Sunshine
by CourtneyHowlett
Summary: When shy, introverted Bella Swan hits Jacob Black with her truck one rainy night, her whole life changes. And in that night, she decided that she would like him. But a beast lurked within, and too many secrets threatened to get her hurt. "You're the closest I'll ever be to heaven," he murmured. "So I guess I'll enjoy you while I still can before I go to Hell." [AU, J/B]
1. Chapter 1

**Title: Sunshine**

**Pairing: Jacob x Bella**

**Summary: When shy, introverted Bella Swan hits Jacob Black with her truck one rainy night, her whole life changes. And in that night, she decided that she, though loathing the male race, would like him. But he had a secret that wasn't his to tell. A beast lurked within, and he was determined never to hurt her like he did the others. "You're the closest I'll ever be to heaven," he murmured. "So I'll enjoy you while I still can, sunshine."**

**Author's Note: Yup, it's me again! I'm back to the Twilight fandom...I think...but anyways, I've had little muses here and there that inspired me to start writing this fic. So please, feedback is like, everything. 'Cause I don't know if I will continue this if people don't seem too enthralled with it. Anyways, this is rated M for later chapters if you know what I mean ;)  
**

**Chapter One:**

The rain pelted down on the rusty old truck as she drove through the pouring rain. Of course, she was used to it. It was Washington, after all.

Working at a bar and waiting tables wasn't exactly Bella's cup of tea, but she put up with it. Whatever got her some money to pay her bills was good enough. And that meant she had to endure all of the catcalls that the greasy bar-dwelling men gave.

One would call Bella an introvert. She hated being around too many people at once (it was a wonder she could do her own job, but she had to work somewhere) and didn't even talk to her own father.

Bella's father was a police chief. It was a long story, and she'd probably stay on the topic of why she and her father didn't get along for a full twenty four hours.

Besides her two co-workers Lauren and Angelina, she didn't really talk to anyone in particular. She hated being surrounded by large groups of people who were talking and chatting and having a great time.

It just wasn't her forte to be outgoing. But the funny thing about Bella Swan was that the petite brunette could be outgoing with someone she felt comfortable with. She could seem like the funniest, most intelligent and outgoing person if she really felt like the person she was talking to was worth spending time being talked to.

Bella turned the corner in the road, her headlights casting a bright shadow down onto the wet road before her.

It had been a long day at the bar. She'd spent at least an hour being tormented by a man named Joseph. He'd buggered her for her number, but she didn't want to give it to him. She'd taken to calling him 'Greasy Joe' but it still didn't drive him away. It wasn't until the manager, Mike, took the drunken gentleman out of the bar.

She had a pounding headache and the storm was making it hard for her to see the road clearly. She used her free hand to rub her aching temples in small circular motions. She flipped on the radio, and out swam tunes from some old radio station that no one ever listened to, except her.

"Chimney falls and lovers blaze, thought that I was young…" Bella gripped the steering wheel a little tighter, sighing as the heat kissed her chilled knuckles. She wasn't the best singer, but she had no one to impress anyways. "Now I've freezing hands and bloodless veins, as numb as I've become."

She yawned, cutting off the next verse.

_I'm so tired_

_I wish I was the moon tonight_

_Last night I dreamt I'd forgotten my name_

"Cause I sold my soul but I walk just the same," she yawned again, rubbing at her eyes. The windshield wipers flicked away the rain in rhythm with the song, flicking crystal beads of water to the sides of the glass. "I'm so lonely…I wish I was the moon tonight."

The moon was a beautiful full moon, shining brightly against the rain clouds up above. She stepped on the gas pedal a little harder, making the rusty old truck go a little faster down the road.

She needed to get back home so she could have her nightly cup of tea and dip her aching bones in the water of a hot bath. "That would be lovely," she whispered, just thinking about her tea and bath.

Thunder rumbled and lightning flickered across the sky. The simple rainstorm had quickly turned into a thunderstorm. It wasn't uncommon in May, but they still frightened her from time to time. Her father Charlie had called to check in on her the last time they'd had a thunderstorm and it blew out the power. Bella was curled up by the fireplace with a blanket, a book, and of course, her cup of tea.

Just as she was thinking about it, her pink cellphone buzzed on the dashboard and distracted her for a split second. It was Charlie, probably calling to check on her. But she didn't talk and drive. She had a hard enough time concentrating on driving without someone blabbing in her ear about being safe.

It was in that split second that Bella's whole entire world changed. She looked up when she saw a flash of brown and a thump against the front of her truck. She hit the brakes as fast as she could, stopping the truck from making whatever had collided with her truck a total pancake.

The music streamed loudly from the truck. Bella's heart pounded as she contemplated what to do. She sat frozen, her mouth in an 'O' shape and her eyes as wide as saucers. She'd just hit an animal. She brought her frightened eyes to the road in front of her.

The lights casted down on the figure of a naked young man, curled up in a fetal position in front of her truck. "Holy crow," she whimpered. She hadn't hit an animal. She hit a person—a real live human being.

A loud clap of thunder snapped her out of her frightened trance and triggered her to race out of the truck. The rain pelted her like it was shunning her. To Bella it felt like she had stones being thrown at her.

But she disregarded it and flew to the young man's side. He was shivering, seemingly unharmed except for a gash across his tattooed arm and a split lip. She put her shaky hands on him, her breath coming out in panicked huffs of air.

"Oh my gosh. Are you okay? Mister, are you hurt?" Bella turned him over onto his back and looked into his eyes. He squeezed them shut in pain and cradled his right arm protectively. "Your arm…does it hurt?" she asked him.

He nodded. "I think it's fractured," he murmured. She was almost surprised at his voice. It was a smooth baritone bass and glided easily through her ears.

She was soaking wet, and felt like a drowned rat. Probably looked like one too. She pushed her drenched hair out of her face and helped him sit up. "Come on—I'll take you to the hospital. It's only a mile away, I think."

She tried to stay calm when he shook his head. "I'll be fine," he stubbornly said. "You go." Bella looked at him, completely aghast.

She took off her navy blue jacket and handed it to him so he could cover his privates. "Are you crazy or something? I…I mean, I just hit you with my truck. Mister—you need to get checked out."

He shook his shoulder length black hair out of his face. He wrapped the jacket around his waist and held onto Bella's arm like a koala bear. "My name's Jacob," he gruffly said.

She looked at him momentarily before sighing. "It's nice to meet you. Now get in the truck, please." He took her hand and stood up to his full height of 6'7, making the brunette feel extremely inferior. 5'4 was not a small height, but she felt like a total shrimp next to the man.

She helped him to the passenger side of her truck, and he sat down on the seat with a wince of pain. "I am seriously so sorry."

He shook his head. She shut the door and scurried through the rain to the other side of the truck. She hopped into the other seat and groaned as she felt her sneakers squish and her skin press up against soggy jeans and a soggy shirt.

She kicked up the heat, because she was freezing now that she was wet. "I'm taking you to the hospital."

"No!" Jacob shouted at her. "Don't. You can't take me to the hospital. You gotta take me home…my dad, he'll know what to do."

She raised her eyebrows and glanced at him through her peripherals. "Your dad will know what to do with a fractured arm? Is he like a doctor or something?"

Jacob shook his head. "No. But please—take me home."

Her shoulders slumped a little. She was defeated. "Fine…but where do you live?" He used his free hand to point down the road.

He glanced over at her. "I live on the Quileute Reservation."

Bella's ears perked up at that. "You do?" A nod from him. "Great!" she squealed. "I live near there—just on the outskirts of the Res. Sometimes I visit there to get this really good tea and honey that some women on the Res make for me."

He sighs and glances at her, clearly unamused. Suddenly he gasps and cradles his head in his hands and from his mouth emits an awful shriek of pain (or so she thought). She began to panic slightly.

"Oh my gosh, I killed you, didn't it? Please don't die—I'm so, so, sorry!" Bella was fussing about, while Jacob sat in the seat and fought the images racing through his head. He didn't know what was going on, really. He'd never experienced this type of feeling before. He needed to get back home to talk to the council, his father, and Sam.

Jacob's hand slithered over the dashboard and grasped her flapping hand and squeezed, stopping her mini-freak out. "You're…you're fine. Just drive faster! My address is 8320 La Push Road. It's the small red rancher with the big garage."

She stepped on the pedal, making the truck speed down the slippery road. She was going as fast as she could. "You sure you're okay?" she asked him. He nodded his head. She watched a droplet of his dark red blood slide down his cheek before shivering and turning her eyes back to the road.

He cleared his throat, leaning his head against the truck's window. "I told you mine," he whispered. She didn't quite hear him right, leaning closer to hear what he said. "I told you mine," he repeated a little louder.

"Oh!" she murmured, shaking her head. "Of course. I'm Bella Swan. I would shake your hand if I wasn't driving."

He laughed at her. Bella wasn't a funny person, and she was bad at making jokes. And she wasn't even trying to make him laugh with that comment. She was just stating the truth. "Takes the tension off, Bella," he said.

"What does?" she asked.

"Laughing," he told her. "Distracting myself. There's a lot on my mind right now."

She looked out towards the road and nodded. "There's a lot on my mind too, Jim."

He laughed again. "It's Jacob, not Jim."

She felt herself blushing, the red heat spreading like wildfire up her cheeks. "I'm such a brick-head. Sorry, Jacob-not-Jim."

He smiled. "It's alright, sunshine."

She turned down the road that led to the Quileute Reservation and sped up a little. "Sunshine? I'm about as dull as the sky before one of these rainstorms."

He looked at her, his breath coming in short puffs. "When you blush, it's like a glow." Her eyes widen at the notion that he noticed when she was blushing like a silly old fool. "You've got bright eyes, you know? And I guess that you just seem like the kind of person that brings…uh, people happiness."

Her face fell. "I wish that were the truth."

He looked puzzled. "What do you mean?" She shook her head, dismissing him.

"It's not worth talking about really," she told him, giving a little smile. "Anyways…how old are you?"

"Eighteen."

She almost choked on her own spit. "Jesus, Jim—er, Jacob—you like you're twenty five years old! I mean…holy crow."

He nodded his head and gave her an amused little grin. "Sure haven't gotten that one before, sunshine," he said sarcastically.

Sunshine. Now that was a horrible nickname, if she ever heard one. She'd rather be called Shithole than Sunshine, because that way the nickname was true.

"Don't call me that," she whispered.

"Hey—" he snapped at her. "You just hit me with your vehicle. I think you owe me. So you can repay by letting me call you sunshine whenever you want."

She frowned and searched for his house in the dark. "It'll annoy me."

"I don't care." Then he added, "Sunshine."

She saw the red house a block away, and stepped on the gas pedal to get him there as fast as possible. "I think I see it, Jacob. 8320 is your house number, am I right?" The young man nodded.

She pulled into the driveway, hearing the gravel crunch beneath her tires. Before she'd even shut off the car, Jacob dashed out of the truck and hobbled on bare-feet over the gravel and up to the ramp that led to the front door.

It was funny watching him, really. He was drenched and the only article of clothing she had on was her soaking wet jacket wrapped around his waist. She scrambled after him and caught him just before his father opened the door.

A short man in a wheelchair opened the door. He wore a cowboy hat and had black hair similar to Jacob's, except it was longer and had feathers strung in it. "Son, I thought you were doing your first patro…" Jacob's father trailed off when he noticed the mousy, drenched girl standing next to his 6'7 foot son. "Hello. Who are you?"

Bella blushed and shook Jacob's father's outstretched hand. "That's Sunshine," Jacob told his father. She blushed even harder and scowled at him slightly. She just met this guy, and yet he was teasing her like he'd known her for ages.

"No, my name is Bella Swan." She gave Jacob's father a small smile.

"I'm Billy," the old man said, pushing his wheelchair back a little. "It's nice to meet you. What relation are you to Jake? Are you his girlfriend?"

She looked surprised, but she wouldn't have minded showing up as the beautiful Native American man's girlfriend. "No!" she told Billy. "I hit your son with my truck."

Billy's mouth fell open and his eyes widened. "You…you what?"

Bella blushed so hard that time that she thought she'd permanently turn pink. "Holy crow, I didn't mean that. I mean, I did hit him with your truck, but I didn't mean for it to come out like that…so crudely."

Billy nodded before turned his head toward his son. "You're alright?"

Jacob shrugged his shoulders and stepped inside, still cradling his arm. "Yeah, pretty much. Think I've got a fractured arm, though." Billy tugged his son inside and began to shut the door in her face.

But Jacob caught the door with his uninjured hand. "Wait!" he called after her, stopping her from walking away. She turned back to him and when her big brown eyes connected with his, he felt his heart jump a little. "Will…will I see you again?"

She shrugged. "Maybe."

Billy watched his son talk to the frail girl with more interest than he'd ever talked to someone. And lately his son had been going through a rough patch with his new 'transformation' and he'd taken it harder than any of the other guys had.

"Well…where do you work?" he asked her.

"Mill Creek Bar and Grill," she whispered. "I work the late shift—it starts at 5:30 and ends at 9:30. That's probably why I hit you with my truck."

He shrugged. "Yeah, probably." She blushed and smiled slightly before retreating to her truck. "Sunshine?" he called after her again. She turned around in the rain and stared at him. "Maybe I'll see you there, huh?"

She shrugged. "Yeah, probably." He smiled at her for mimicking his sentence. He closed the door slowly, rushing over to the window to watch her pull out of his driveway.

She sighed and saw him through the window watching her. She backed out of Jacob's gravel driveway and drove down the road. She was a wet rat and desperately craved a hot bath and a hot cup of tea and a session with the fireplace, the couch, and a good book.

Jacob was different than the other guys. He was_ very_ different. And she'd already seen him naked, so the tension of that was already gone. So with that, Isabella Swan, the despiser of all men out there, decided that she would like this Jacob.

**0o0o0o0o**

**Please review! Love counts a lot (: You will be the judge!**

**Courtney xx**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: OMG, y'all were so freaking amazing with those reviews! I couldn't have asked for better (: ****Also, there is a _Youtube trailer for Sunshine up on my PROFILE PAGE_. There's the link, so go and watch it! My friend Haley made it for me!**

**Thank you: Blab Labels, Guest 1, rasheedah2907, tonyamic10, Lilabug, Guest 2, JSam1021, megan39, Nesha, write more soon, Tala Channing, Guest 3, twin268, Dottyanne, Allison117, sindhura, ae81, lili, Peyton Cummings, corkykellems, Kourtney, cullensbabymama7, and psjojo.**

**Chapter Two:**

They waved her over to just make crude jokes at her. Bella walked away with her held high, trying not to cry. She wouldn't cry over these stupid men. Angelina came over to her and pulled her back into the kitchen. "Don't you dare listen to those stupid jerks," she chided. "There are good men out there, Bella. Don't give up just yet."

Instantly her mind floated back to Jacob. And last night. She couldn't keep her mind off of him the whole entire day. His smile. His eyes. His laugh. What was going on with her? It was just plain crazy.

She nodded her head, her ponytail bouncing. "Yeah. I know. You wanna get those guys then, Ang?" Bella asked. Her friend nodded her head.

"If they give me crap, I'll just tell Mike." Angelina walked out with her held high out into the bar. Bella's shoulders slouched for the fiftieth time that day, wishing she could be confident like Angelina. Wishing she could be Angelina.

"Swan!" came a voice over at the end of the bar. It was Macie, a girl who didn't particularly like her. "Some dickhead over there passed me up 'cause he requested your skinny ass." The blonde popped her bubble gum with her tongue and placed her pink nailed hand on her too-tiny waist.

Bella nodded and pushed her bangs out of her eyes. Who could have possibly asked for her? Who would have passed up the blonde beauty for a mousy girl like her? She gripped her notepad until her fingers turned white and stuck her pen behind her ear. "What table was it?"

Macie looked up from the beer cooler. "Table 13, now hurry! Don't make him wait too long. Then he might realize that he made a mistake with asking for you instead of me." She was offended by Macie's rude proposition, but she wiped it off. Same old, same old. It was really nothing new.

She moved as fast as her shoes could carry her to table 13. There a man sat in a booth with his head hung low and his hands folded together. She cleared her throat, making him look up at her. It was then she recognized who sat there. "Hey sunshine," he said, beaming.

Bella just stared. He'd actually come to visit her. Was this some kind of joke? Was she dreaming?

No.

He was about as real and tangible as she was. His long hair kissed his shoulders, his bangs pinned back out of his face. A feather was strung in it casually. It was a good look on him. He wore a white wife-beater shirt with tattered jeans. It was then that she realized how beautiful he really was.

In the dim light of the bar, she could really see the glow radiating off of his muscular copper-toned skin, and the beauty of his intricate tribal tattoo. Hanging around his neck was a chain necklace and there was a small tribal charm on the end of it.

And it was then when he realized the beauty of this girl. She wore her wavy hair in a ponytail with small wisps of hair perfectly framing her heart-shaped face. Her large, doe eyes were a sweet honey-chocolate color with long black eyelashes that made her look so innocent and feminine. She was about as pale as a cloud, but it didn't faze him in the least.

She wore a white tank top as well, her black serving apron tied around her waist. _Isabella Swan_ was written in cursive gold letters on the apron. She wore her boot-cut jeans and her favorite, most comfortable sneakers because she was on her feet for a real long time.

He liked the fact that she didn't wear makeup—it made her all the more attractive, because he knew that her sheer beauty was all natural. He shook his head, tearing his eyes away from her. She blushed and pushed her hair back. "Hi. You want something to eat or drink?"

It was like he didn't realize that this was a bar and you could eat here. "Er…I'll have a burger and a beer." She wrote it down on her paper.

Then she paused and gave him a funny look. "Wait…you're only eighteen."

He shrugged his massive shoulders. "So?"

She frowned at him. "You're underage. I can't serve people who are underage."

"On the Res, nobody gives a…" he trailed off, scratching the back of his head. "Fine, I'll have a coke."

Like it was a race, Bella flew to the kitchen and back with a burger that had just been made and a coke can. She handed the hot burger to him and slid the coke can onto the table. "We, um, don't usually get people asking for coke, so we didn't have any refrigerated. I went to the back and got a new one. So…it's kinda warm."

He popped the can open and took a swig. "No, it's perfect. I drink my cokes warm all the time." He gave her a saccharine smile and she swore that she'd melt if she didn't find some way to cool down. He nodded towards the seat in front of him. "You got a minute? I don't really want to sit here like a loner just yet."

She sat down instantly. He smiled at her and took a bite of his burger. She watched him chew for a moment before glancing towards the counter to watch out for her boss. "So you weren't kidding when you said you'd come and see me at the bar, huh?"

He shook his head and set down his burger. "Took the long stretch. Didn't have patr—er, anything to do tonight so I figured…um…why not?" He mentally slapped himself. He almost slipped and revealed his secret to her.

She toyed with the salt container before her eyes flickered up to his. "How's your arm?" she asked him. "Does it still hurt?'"

There was no wrap on his arm, and it didn't look bruised at all. He nodded his head and picked up the can of coke. "It's a lot better," he told her. "Healed real quick overnight."

She nodded and slid the salt shaker back to the corner. "That's good. You know, I'm really glad that I didn't kill you last night. That wouldn't have been good. Plus…you're a nice person. More so than anyone else I've met."

He sniffed a laugh, winking one eye at her. "You too, sunshine. I never thought I'd be happy I got hit by some girl's truck."

"My truck hasn't been working right since I hit you last night." Bella commented casually. "I thought I'd call up a mechanic, but the prices they call for these days are crazy high. So I figured I'd just work a few extra hours at the bar to earn some more before going to one."

He took a sip of his coke before shaking his head. "Trust me, I know. But actually…I work as a mechanic. Me and some other of my buddies run a shop down on the Res. It's called The Garage…and to do you a favor for not killing me last night, I'd be happy to fix your truck for you. And I won't charge a thing."

Bella's eyes bugged out of her head. "You're kidding me!" she exclaimed. "No mechanic in their right mind would charge _nothing_ for a checkup and a fixing."

He shrugged his shoulders, his bulky arms flexing slightly. "Well then maybe I'm not in my right mind."

She found herself feeling giddy like a schoolgirl. "This is amazing…you're amazing. Thank you so much for this. Money is super tight these days for me ever since I moved out of my dad's, and…gosh, you're doing such a big favor for me."

He smiled languidly and nodded his head. "Sure thing. We need some business, since most people on the Res like walking or bicycling."

Bella sighed. "Then I have to pay something," she whined to him. "I can't just…walk away with a free visit and not pay you when you need money—"

He held up a hand and chuckled. "I didn't say we needed money for our business. We got a lot of that." He flashed a pearly white smile and Bella felt her insides turn to jelly. "Just come by anyways."

She nodded her head and smiled softly. "What time tomorrow?" she asked.

He set down his burger, swallowed his bite and replied with, "How about noon?"

"Like twelve o' clock?"

He nodded. "Yup, that _is_ noon, sunshine."

Bella felt extremely stupid at that very moment. He made her feel stupid. Hell, he made her feel many things. Some feelings she'd never felt before. And she wasn't sure she should be worried about that, though.

A pretty blush painted her cheeks like a canvas, and he noticed. Her scent was stronger than everyone else's scents in the room. He could smell arousal, he could smell cigarettes, he could smell liars and sinners, and food, and alcohol…but Bella? Her scent was a sweet warm vanilla aroma. He swore that he could be able to sup off of her scent for the rest of his life.

She smelled timid, shy, and unsure of herself. It only brought him closer to needing, and a little farther away from wanting. She was baiting him and dragging him farther in. He couldn't hurt her. She was too fragile, like a beautiful, million dollar glass sculpture.

He couldn't hurt her like he did the others. He'd kill himself if he ever hurt her. For some reason, this girl had captivated him in such a way that when he tore his eyes from her, it felt like taking one step further away from heaven.

"Bella!" a tall man called from the corner. Jacob almost growled at her boss for interrupting their chat. He stormed over to the table. "You're at work for a reason. To work. There's people ready to be waited on, food to be made, tables to be cleaned. Get your head in the game."

Bella timidly stood and nodded her head. Jacob found himself growing increasingly angrier at the smart ass's tone with her. The anger almost overwhelmed him. He stood up to his full height, towering over Bella's tiny, ugly boss. Bella's doe eyes grew large and her heart pounded. What was he doing?

Jacob glared at her boss. "I don't think you should be talking to a lady like that," he growled.

Mike looked aghast and really pissed off. "And who the hell are you? She was supposed to be serving people at her job, not sitting and chatting and having a grand ol' time."

"She was serving _me_," Jacob bumped chests with Mike (it was more like chest to face with Jacob's height) and glowered down at him. "And I think you owe her a goddamn apology."

Bella, panicking, put a shaky hand on Jacob's bicep and felt the heat instantly seep through her fingers. She gasped, her fingertips sizzled and browned a little. He gasped and turned to her wide-eyed and afraid.

Mike grumbled. "Sir, I think you should leave."

Bella swore she could see the heat radiating off of his skin. He pushed back his hair and glared at Mike loathingly. "Not before you apologize."

Bella whimpered, and instantly Jacob's head snapped towards her. "Jake, it's okay. I'll see you tomorrow?"

Jacob looked a little defeated by her dismissal. Truth was, the fact that she wouldn't demand respect from some random dickwad drove a knife through him. She needed to know that she should be respected. He wouldn't have it any other way.

But she seemed so adamant about wanting the potential fight to not become kinetic. So he nodded, slipped a ten dollar tip into her hand and left out the door. She gulped down every nasty thing she wanted to say to her boss as he turned away. She noticed something shining on the booth seat.

When she came closer, she noticed that it was a necklace with a metal wolf charm attached to the end of it. It was Jacob's. Bella figured that it was probably something tribal or Quileute. But she chose the chance when no one was watching to dart out the door with the necklace in hand.

In the dark, she searched for him. The fluorescent lights illuminated the parking lot at night, making it easier to find him. And just like a light flickered on, she spotted him boarding a black motorcycle.

"Wait!" she called, waving her hands up in the air. She started to sprint towards the motorcycle. Jacob must have seen her because he took off his helmet and put the brakes on the bike. The wind blew in her face and nipped at her pale skin harshly, but it didn't stop her.

When she came up to him, she was panting and out of breath. He rested his helmet under his arm like a football and gazed at her. "What's up, sunshine?"

"First of all, don't call me that." She scolded him, laughing humorlessly. "And second," she pulled the necklace out of her waitressing apron's pocket and held it up for him. "You forgot this on the booth seat. I wanted to catch you before you left…to, um, give it to you."

His eyes widened instantly and he snatched the necklace away. Emily had given him the damn thing as a way of welcoming him into the 'brotherhood', because she'd made one for each of the pack members. Some proudly wore theirs around their necks, but Jacob refused to.

She looked a little hurt that he took the necklace so harshly from her palm, but a calming smile from him eased her tense brain. "Thanks," he murmured. "I would have been missing that."

_I would have been missing you,_ is what he meant to say.

She put her hands in her pockets nervously. "Better head back in then. I'm almost done with my shift…and I don't want Mike harping on me anymore than he already has."

She turned around and started the walk back. "Wait!" he called this time. She stopped dead in her tracks, slowly turning to face him. "I…I could stick around a little while then drive you home."

Bella blushed and pushed her chestnut bangs out of her face. "You can't come in and finish your burger because Mike kicked you out…and why would you want to wait in a windy, dark parking lot for a half hour?"

Jacob's shoulders slumped slightly. "Oh. Right." He revved up the engine of the motorcycle and fiddled with his helmet. "I'll—" He almost said _I'll miss you_, but he caught himself before he ruined his life. "…see you tomorrow."

Bella nodded her head. "That's right. The date's set!"

For a moment he almost kid himself with thinking that tomorrow was their first date. But no, Isabella Swan was just visiting his gasoline-smelling garage so he could fix her old hunk-of-junk red truck for free. It was nowhere close to being a date. And he, being the fool that he was, invited her to come at noon, when Quil and Embry were on shift.

And Jacob would be lucky if they didn't embarrass the living daylights out of him in front of her. He'd probably gut them later if they tried anything on her. He laughed. He and Bella, sitting on a tattered old sofa, listening to rock music, and drinking warm coca-colas.

What a date.

He nodded his head, slipping on his black helmet. "See you then, sunshine."

She gave a tiny, delicate finger-wave. "Bye, Jacob. See you then." He drove slowly past her until her voice made him hit the brakes. "Oh, and Jacob?"

He looked back in curiosity. "Yeah?"

"Don't call me that," she told him with a measly smile that he could barely even see. But it was a smile, and it was there nonetheless.

He grinned and laughed before driving away into the night, leaving Bella feeling overwhelmed with feelings.

0o0o0o0o

**Thanks for reading! All those lovely reviews are truly the highlight of my day. I write faster when I get them, I've noticed ;) More soon, all you lovely beautiful people.**

**Courtney xx**


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: This chapter was a little tricky for me. I spent a good half hour researching common vehicle problems, found misfiring, and then had to elaborate why a vehicle would misfire. The cylinder. And then I had to pick a reason, and I chose spark plugs…and I learned an awful lot about being a mechanic today. I hope I enlightened you guys too :D**

**Also, my Bella is sorta not like the Bella in the books(obviously). So yes, she does act girly, and wear wedges, sundresses, and sunhats. But she still has some characteristics of the old Bella like clumsiness, shyness, and paleness. Lol.**

**Chapter Three:**

The old rusty red truck rattled as it drove into The Garage parking lot. The Garage was a small little place near Jacob's house that he apparently owned. Today it was actually a nice day in Forks, considering it rained a considerable amount of beautiful days away. Last night there was a storm at midnight and she found herself awake, sitting by the fire, and sipping some tea.

But today the sun shone brightly, clouds were puffy and white, and a calming, warm breeze swept through the trees. She'd gone shopping with Angelina in March for sundresses, sun hats and cute shoes, and today she'd pulled out a sundress with a matching sun hat that she'd never worn before because she never had a reason to wear one.

There was really no one to impress.

Except today there was.

The dress was yellow and white striped and it showed a little of her milky white thighs. A gust of wind blew the dress up a little, and Bella found herself fighting with the fabric in order for it to stay down.

The instant she stepped onto the gravel driveway, her ankle twisted this way and that, making her stumble and almost fall. She knew it was a mistake wearing high-heeled wedges, but Angelina had pressured her so badly to wear them, saying that she couldn't do it, and that she didn't have the guts to wear them off for Jacob.

And Bella was determined that she could do anything.

Once she regained her composure, she stared at her surroundings through her light brown aviators, shutting the truck door behind herself without shutting it off. Jacob would probably want to drive it into the shop so he could work on it there.

She grabbed her brown leather purse, slinging it over her shoulder casually, and began to walk (carefully) towards the hardcore rock music blaring and the clinking of metal tools against cars.

When she walked around the corner, she saw that The Garage could hold three cars and only two were there. He made room for her, and she thought it was sweet. The rock music blared loudly, curses scarring her innocent virgin ears. It smelled like _man._ It smelled like oil and gasoline, metal, and sweat.

A strong breeze blew again, blowing her scent right to the nose of a man working under a black SUV. He scooted himself out from under the vehicle, twirling an oily wrench in his hand.

He was half naked, black streaks of oil painting his torso and some spots on his cutoff shorts.

He wiped his hands on a dirty old rag and nodded a greeting over at her. Who was this scrawny girl, standing in a sundress, sun hat and little high heels? Certainly she couldn't be the one. The one Jacob described was a plain, yet sweet girl that dressed, as far as he could see, pretty casually. This chick, as far as _Embry_ could see looked like she was the goddamn preacher's daughter.

Bella found herself blushing in embarrassment under his intense gaze. This man wasn't Jacob. She pulled out her iPhone and checked the time. It was twelve o' clock on the dot. So why wasn't he here? Did he ditch her?

"Hey," the young man murmured. "You got an appointment?"

She nodded her head and clutched her keys a little tighter in her hand. "Yeah. Um…Jacob told me to come at noon, but he's not here. I was supposed to get a checkup and a fixing…because, um, something's not right with my truck."

He squinted his eyes at her slightly before smiling widely and sticking out his hand. She timidly took it. He shook her hand hard; he was about the same height as Jacob and he was huge. "So you're the little miss sunshine that our Jake's been talking about nonstop, eh?" Bella's face got bright red.

"Um…pardon?"

"You're sunshine!" he exclaimed. "Jake should be around any minute now. He ran inside to get some cokes. He was expecting you, anyways. He ran inside literally just a minute before you came."

"Jacob actually just calls me sunshine to annoy me," she murmured. "It's not my actual name…my real name is Bella. And…I'm kind of opposite of sunshine."

The tall young man gave her a funny look. "You say you're opposite of sunshine, but all I see is _yellow, yellow, yellow._ You like you just came out of church."

She looked down at herself. "Well, I kind of walked right into that one."

Embry ran a hand through his sweaty chin length hair. "Yeah, you did," he laughed. "Hey, listen—if you wanna sit on that couch over there while I drive your truck in, Jake should be in pretty soon."

Bella timidly handed him her keys and he grinned again. "Oh—" he started, turning around to face the innocent looking girl again. "My name's Embry, by the way. And it's real nice to meet you, _sunshine_."

She couldn't help but nod. He walked away, whistling to the rock music and twirling her keys. Bella checked her phone again. One minute had passed. The other man was still working underneath the truck.

She took a seat on the old, tattered couch in the corner and nervously played with the charm bracelet that sparkled on her wrist. The good thing was that Jacob hadn't ditched her, and she was looking forward to watching him fix her truck. Embry backed Bella's rattling truck into the garage in the free space and positioned it up nicely for Jake to fix.

A door slammed, causing Bella to look over in curiosity. Jake held a case of coke cans in his muscled arm like a football, whooping to his friends to signal his presence. She fussed with her hair nervously as he came closer to her. She didn't think he noticed that she was here.

He tipped his head back and took in a long drawl of air through his nose before his head snapped to her. The air smelled like vanilla, something odd for a mechanic's garage to smell like.

Jacob's face lit up instantly as he waved her over. She stood eagerly, a gust of wind pushing her frail body slightly. She clutched onto her sun hat tightly, giving him a tiny little finger-wave before carefully making her way over to him.

He seemed like he was trying to bring her in for an embrace, but stopped a little short of that when he realized that they weren't together, let alone (barely) friends. "S-Sunshine," he stuttered a little. "Welcome to The Garage."

Bella looked him up and down, inspecting his body. He was ripped. His shirt was off, like Embry's, but Jacob was far more built than Embry was. Embry was lanky and skinny, but Jacob was tall, extremely buff, and had a set of washboard abs to lead into his cutoff shorts. He had his long hair tied back into a low ponytail, a chain necklace hanging around his neck.

She stopped herself from drooling as she noticed that when he moved, his slick copper skin rippled 'oh-so-perfectly'. He was all man, and he was all sorts of perfect.

Bella looked around the shop through her glasses. "Yeah, it's really nice…in here." He smiled at her, gesturing her over to her truck.

"I'm gonna fix this baby up good," he told her in a voice that came out huskier and more sexual than he ever imagined it would. He cleared his throat and she blushed for the fifth time that day, strange feelings running down south.

He had to walk away to hide the growing fiend in his pants when her scent spiked with arousal at his tone. Embry grinned too, smelling the vanilla-icing scent suddenly becoming a hell of a lot stronger. "Coke?" Jacob asked her.

She nodded her head, slipping off her sunglasses and slipping them daintily into her brown leather purse. She reached for the coke, stumbling over a bump in the concrete floor.

Bella went flying.

Jacob caught her weight instantly, feeling the petite beauty slump against him to try and stand. "Jesus. Are you okay there, sunshine?" Her face went bright red and she regretted wearing those stupid beautiful looking wedges. She almost broke her face on them.

She pushed away from his strong arms, and bent down to rub her sore ankle. She twisted it a little when she went down for the fall. Jacob could smell her scent spike a different way this time. It took a right turn from pure arousal to slightly aroused with a touch of embarrassment. Mmm. Chocolate and vanilla.

He grinned and handed her the coke. She opened it and took a sip. It was _warm, _and the taste of warm coca-cola mortified her. "Is mine supposed to be, um, warm?" she asked him, pointing a delicate fingernail to the red can.

He nodded and took his own can, throwing his head back and feeling the fizzy liquid bubble down his parched throat. "I always drink my cokes like this," he protested. "I say it's the best way to drink one. Warm."

She nodded and tapped her short fingernails on the aluminum. "Alright."

"I hope you don't mind," Jacob snickered. "You look nice. Are you going somewhere after here?"

Bella almost choked on her soda. She dressed like this for him. But he obviously didn't think so. But hell, she thought. Why would someone wear a sundress and fancy shoes and everything to go get their truck fixed in a dirty old shop?

So she lied. "Yeah, I'm going to…um…go to a little party."

Jacob nodded. "That's cool. I'd better hurry up then, huh?"

Bella's eyes widened and she vigorously shook her head. "No, no, no. It's in a couple of hours." Then she rethought what she said, but it was too late.

"Well, I'll surely be done by then, sunshine." Jacob set his coke can on a rusty old end table and pulled out an old skateboard. He boarded it on his back and rolled himself under the truck. She pulled up a dirty old plastic chair and watched him.

She sipped her coke, looking around the room. The young man named Embry was chatting with the other man that was under one of the cars when she was first coming into the shop. Embry was pointing at the other man's truck and telling him something.

"Ah-ha!" Jacob exclaimed. "I found the source of the problem, sunshine. Tell me the issues you were having again?"

Bella almost jumped out of her skin at his exclamation. She gulped down the rest of her soda and hastily answered him. "It was rattling, like a horse running on three legs. It just seemed…weak. The engine's real shaky."

"Your cylinder's misfired," Jacob told her from underneath the truck. "The spark plug's nice and damaged, and the loss of spark is one of the three things that can make a cylinder misfire."

Her eyes roamed his muscled legs appreciatively. "Okay. How're you gonna fix that?"

"Easy," Jacob said as he rolled out from under the truck. "I'm gonna replace the spark plug to get it up and running again. And if the truck still doesn't work, I know there's something else besides a spark plug issue."

She checked her purse for her wallet, rummaging for her money. She had $20 on her, and whatever this spark plug thing was, she didn't think she had enough money. She waved the dollar bill in the air weakly. "Will $20 cover the cost of the sparking plug?"

"Spark plug," he corrected. "And I told you already that you didn't have to pay. So keep your twenty bucks and put it back in your purse before it blows away in this wind."

She smiled and slipped the money back in the purse. "Thanks."

He grinned back at her, rummaging around in a little drawer. "It's no problem." He pulled out a metal contraption and wiggled it in front of her face. "Behold the spark plug, sunshine. This will make your dreams come true."

She gave a light laugh, pleasing him greatly. "How long will it take?"

He grabbed another spark plug and shook his head. "Not long at all, I promise. I'd say maybe 10-15 minutes to replace these babies. Then you can head off to your little party."

Her eyes bugged out of her head. She would only be there for 10-15 minutes? She was anticipating something more along the lines of an hour. "Okay," she whispered, twisting the strap of her purse nervously.

She took a seat in the chair and watched his muscles go to work under the truck. The man named Embry approached her with his acquaintance, the one that was working under the car. The new man was slightly taller with broad shoulders and more of a frame than lanky Embry.

"Hi," he stuck out his hand awkwardly. "I'm Quil, Jake's best bud." From underneath the truck, Jacob gave a snort. Quil's face contorted into an ugly frown as he kicked his friend's shin.

She shook Quil's big hand and smiled nicely. "Hi Quil, I'm Bella. It's really nice to meet you."

Quil looked at Embry all red-faced and smiley like he was seeing a friend's crush for the first time. Embry elbowed his friend in the side and gave him a certain look that said, "Shut up, you're making a fool out of yourself in front of her."

Quil made a small motion with his hands. "You…you look like a ray of sun. Guess that's why everyone calls you sunshine, huh?"

Bella's eyes widened. "Oh no, no, no. Only Jacob calls me sunshine. Nobody really ever calls me nicknames…"

"Do you like it?" he asked.

She shook her head impulsively.

Quil grinned. "Then that's what we'll call you."

Bella looked back at Jacob, who could be heard laughing from underneath the truck. She gulped, her eyes widened and a blush crawling onto her skin. She wasn't used to this kind of attention, let alone any kind of attention.

Embry blasted the radio, shaking his head vigorously, and droplets of sweat flying everywhere. "Listen here, sunshine. This is Mott the Hoople. This is our song!"

And out of nowhere, Quil started to sing along. "Well Billy rapped all night about his suicide, how he kicked it in the head when he was twenty five, speed jive…don't want to stay alive when you're twenty five."

Quil pointed to Embry, who struck a pose like a rock star, lowering his fist close to his lips like it was a microphone. "And Wendy's stealing clothes from Marks and Sparks, and Freddie's got scars from ripping off the stars from his face…funky little boat race."

Bella soon found herself laughing at the two, who were making fools of themselves with their charismatic dancing and singing. Embry, with his somewhat long hair had it sweaty and thrown across his face, and he was shirtless with jeans on just like an 80's rocker.

It was like going to the concert she never went to, and she loved it.

"Television man is crazy, saying we're juvenile delinquent wrecks…" A voice from behind her sounded out. Jacob was twirling his wrench, his hair fallen loose from his tie. Bella gasped. It was majestic. He was sweaty, he was bronze and muscular, and he was…singing.

He threw his wrench on the ground and offered a rough, stained hand to her, practically purring when she took it. He swung her into his arms and looked her dead-on the eyes with a passion for the music, and for her.

"All the young dudes, carry the news," he mouthed at her, moving his glistening, heated body against hers so sensually in a very good attempt to make her dance with him. Truth was, she was a klutz and she couldn't dance if she tried.

But she tried anyways, to try and have a good time with Jacob. He swung her out and tried her best to stay on her feet. He pulled her close again, her face landing on his pecks when the tip of her wedges caught in one of the rough edges of the Garage floor.

Embry and Quil joined at Jacob's side, lip-syncing to the background singers' vocals while Jacob took the lead singer's vocals.

Bella slouched slightly, tucking a sweaty tendril of chestnut hair behind her ear as she watched the incredibly sexy scene unfold. She couldn't keep her eyes of Jacob. When he flipped his hair out of his face, it was like watching a romantic movie scene in slow motion.

"Lucy looks sweet 'cause he dresses like a queen but he can kick like a mule, it's a real mean team. But we can love," Jacob used his wrench like a microphone. "Oh _yes_," it was like a moan. "We can love."

And my brother's back at home with his Beatles and his Stones

_We never got it off on that "Revolution stuff"_

_What a drag, too many snags_

He grabbed her hand and pulled her back in, watching her face light up with joy. He tried to sing along, but he ended up shattering the line with a broken laugh. "Oh jeez," he wheezed, beaming brightly. "I can't handle you anymore, sunshine."

She laughed as his bulky arms wrapped around her tiny waist. "But I didn't do anything," she whimpered jokingly.

He shook his head, out of breath. "No," he told her slowly. "You're doing everything."

Bella instantly felt herself heat up at his touch, the rock music blaring on in the background. Quil and Embry stood behind Jake, playing their air guitars. She ignored all possible thoughts on what he could have meant by that sentence.

The song ended.

And so did the perfect moment.

He snapped out of whatever trance he was in and he moved back a little, his hands swinging at his sides limply. "Better finish installing the spark plug, huh?" he asked, wiping his hands on his cutoffs. "So you can go to your…your little party."

His face was to some extent red as he backed off of her. Bella's shoulders drooped a little and the corners of her mouth turned down slightly into a frown. "Yeah. Okay."

She sat back down in her chair, and watched him slide back under her truck. Rolling her eyes, she grabbed her can of warm coca-cola and sipped it.

**0o0o0o0o**

**Sorry this took so long. I had a terrible head cold and an ear infection…so in that case, please review (: **

**Courtney xx**


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: Anyways, I want to thank you all for reviewing! This story seems to be a really good hit with you all, when at first I didn't think so. Keep 'em coming! (: Don't forget to check out the awesome trailer Haley made! ON MY PROFILE! :)**

**The song is: Star Witness by Neko Case. I listened to it while creating this chapter for you all, and looking up a really yummy rabbit stew and red wine recipe. Let me know what you think of the song!**

**FYI: Jake's text messages are bold. Bella's are bold-italics. Bella/Jake's thoughts are in italics. The pack members' talks are in the brackets. [ ]**

**Chapter Four:**

Bella's truck was fixed perfectly three days ago, even though it took her a whole hour to get out of The Garage (not that she minded). She'd replayed the song "All the Young Dudes" on her iPhone all night and memorized him singing it.

She'd sipped her cup of tea, took her warm bubble bath and soaked until her toes were like prunes, then curled up by the fire in pajamas with her book and notepad and pen for an hour before retiring to her bed.

It was the next day, early morning and she had some time to pass before she went to work.

When the rain started, she flew onto the porch of her house as fast as her short legs could take her. All she could see was forest, and a few of the secluded, spaced out neighboring homes across the way. She wore her jean-shorts, black flip-flops and a light pink tank top.

Inevitably she was drenched.

She collapsed on her wooden porch seat, wiping the wet tendrils of hair out of her eyes. It was hot that day. Really, _really_ hot for Forks, Washington. The trees glistened in the sunlight as the rain poured down on them, birds making the forest come alive.

She slipped her flip-flops off and slid them halfway across the porch, letting her toes feel the air and the wood beneath her feet. On the porch table was a half empty bucket of pretzel pieces and a bottle of water from last night.

She'd used mason jars to capture the fireflies in her front yard and set a bunch of them on the porch's railing. She read a book for a while, wrote a poem, and then set them free, watching them sparkle off into the night.

It was the only time she still felt like a child, catching those silly little flickering bugs.

She pulled the plastic top off of the pretzel bucket, reached her hand in side, and shoved a few in her mouth. It had been three days since Jacob had last fixed her truck. She was honestly missing him. She felt bored without him. He was the sun on a rainy day.

She grabbed the pen and paper that she'd brought out with her and began to write down her thoughts. Being an awkward and quiet person normally, she didn't quite know how to express her feelings.

She wrote about him, figuring that if she couldn't see him and be with him, she'd write about him all she wanted.

_Jacob—_

_Smart, works with cars and trucks, fixed my truck._

_Likes rock music like Hoople the Motts, or Mott the Hooples. I don't know the band's name._

_Has beautiful black, golden skin, and gorgeous brown eyes. Is perfect._

_Jacob. Kind. More so than anyone else that I've met. _

_He treats me like a human being. He sees me—I'm not invisible to him._

She grabbed another handful of pretzels and shoved them into her mouth. The sound of a roaring motorcycle could be heard in the distance. There weren't many motorcycles to be heard around this part of the Res. But it wasn't important and she didn't really care, so she went back to writing about Jacob, and remembering his face.

_Has two friends named Quil and Embry._

_Knows all about spark plugs._

_Hates my boss._

_Heals quickly._

_Dad's name is Billy._

_Last name is Black, like the color._

_His shop's name is The Garage._

_Loves warm Coke._

_Loves calling me sunshine, despite the fact that I hate -_

Her pen scribbled across the paper as a loud, black motorcycle came zooming into her view. She froze in mid-chew, her cheeks stuffed like those of a squirrel's, and just stared. The cyclist in his black leather jacket hopped off of the black Harley sprint with a swagger than meant business.

She squinted her eyes at him in curiosity. He nodded his head in greeting at her before taking off his helmet and letting his long black hair flow down his shoulders like a waterfall. He shook his head like a dog, the grin of satisfaction on his face unmistakable.

He slipped off his leather jacket and laid it on the motorcycle's seat and hung the helmet on the handles of the bike. He wore a gray wife-beater shirt and his jeans, which looked exceptionally good on his muscular, tanned legs.

He raced up to her porch step with something in his hand. Suddenly her gears started working. She closed her notebook quickly, crunched the pretzels with her teeth, and stroked her long brown hair with her fingers.

He puffed his chest out once he stepped in front of her, making himself look super macho, more than he already did. She blushed bright red. "Hi Jacob." It came out slightly muffled due to the food in her mouth. She reached over to the bucket of pretzels. "You want some?"

Jacob laughed, shaking his head. "Nah, pretzels aren't really my thing. I'm more of a chip kind of guy." Bella almost reached over to write that new fact down in her notebook, but she held the self-restraint on herself. "Anyways, I came to bring you back your pocketbook. You left it at The Garage. Embry found it last night. Had your address, phone number and everything in there."

She took the pocketbook back from him and winced. "Jeez. That's a lot of information I could have lost…"

He nodded his head and shifted from side to side awkwardly. "It's a real good thing I'm not a creeper, huh?"

She looked up at him through the sunlight and cocked her head to the side. "Well, I don't know you that well yet," she joked. He laughed, his eyes trailing down from her face slightly.

The rain had made her tank top somewhat see-through and since she didn't have monster-boobs like Angelina, she could go around her house without a bra. She followed his line of gaze to the small mounds on her chest. He was staring straight at her nipples, which pebbled up instantly with the passing breeze.

Horrified, she uttered a slight 'oh my god' and covered her chest with her arms, standing up instantly. His eyes snapped away from her womanly bits with a look of guilt on his face. "Jeez, I'm sorry."

She shook her head. "I should probably go inside to change my clothes, and um, slip on a dry shirt…" she murmured.

"You don't have to!" he blurted, holding a hand to cease her movement. "I mean, that's a completely natural thing. Don't be ashamed…" Jacob cut his sentence off when he noticed the look of complete shock on her face. "Yeah, you can go change."

She turned towards the door, hearing him sigh. "You want to come in and wait? I could fix you up some lemonade if you wanted." He nodded his head slightly and she opened up the door for him, so he could drop inside.

Bella was absolutely horrified when she opened up the door to see things across the floor. She hadn't cleaned up. She flew to her knees and picked up fallen papers and discarded clothes, hiding them from Jacob's eyes. "Sorry, so sorry. I wasn't expecting company, so I didn't clean up…like, at all."

He waves it off with a comforting laugh. "You should see what my room likes like, sunshine. It's a complete pig-sty, I'm telling you. My dad has my ass for it."

She looked back at him. "You still live with your dad? That's kind of sweet."

Jacob's face got slightly red as he stuffed his hands inside of his pockets. "Well…it's because he's immobilized. My sisters are off in college, and I got one that's pregnant and moved out with her boyfriend…so that leaves me to take care of him."

A certain adoration flooded back inside of her. "You know what? I was wrong. It's not kind of sweet, it's _super _sweet." She rushed upstairs to her bedroom and slipped on a random bra and a tea shirt.

When she came back downstairs, he was sitting at her kitchen table, his palms splayed on the table. His eyes were locked on the portrait of her and high school best friend Ben.

She waved to him when he looked over to her. She padded over the hardwood floor, going to the refrigerator to fetch the pitcher of homemade lemonade. She poured him a glass while watching him from her peripherals. He was frowning.

He was still frowning when she handed him his glass of lemonade. "Who's that?" he almost hissed. "Tell me his name."

She was shocked at his bluntness and his anger. "Um…that's Ben. He was my really good high school friend."

"Did you date?" he asked.

"Pardon me?"

"Did you date this…this Ben guy?"

She shook her head. He seemed to calm down at that statement. He took the glass of lemonade and took a sip of the yellow liquid. He smiled at her. "This is good," he murmured. "I haven't had lemonade in a really long time."

She sat down next to him and stared at him from under her dark black eyelashes. "I always make lemonade. That, and tea." Thunder crackled outside, stirring her, and making her jump up from the table. "Holy crow. I should probably bring the plants in so they don't drown."

She propped open her screen door and rushed down the porch steps to grab the four pots of vegetation inside. Jacob admired the fact that she was very nature savvy, like most of the girls on the Res were. She set them on open wooden windowsills, the thin white curtains blowing softly with the rain's breeze.

He loved her house. It was a little wooden thing with cozy furniture inside. It was perfect, and he wanted to live there with her. "I worked so hard all summer to get my plants to grow, and they finally have peaked." She pointed to the plant on her front windowsill. "That one's growing cherry tomatoes. I got five off of it already—and look! There's three more."

He turned and watched her pluck a tomato off of a leaf and pop in her mouth. She moans at the taste. "It's good, huh?" he asked her. She nodded.

"Yeah, the tomato tastes good. But the victory does too. Before these babies, I was never able to grow a single vegetable," she laughed and picked another one off of its vine. "You want one? They're real nice and juicy."

He shrugged and she tossed him the tomato. Popping it into his mouth, he felt it erupt between his teeth, flavorful pulp and tiny seeds on his tongue. "You're right," he murmured. "It's really good."

She gave a little squeak of triumph. "Good! I'm glad you like it. I was thinking of making a stew with the carrots, potatoes and beans I grew out back. But I don't have enough supplies yet." She pulled out her grocery list and wrote down some odd spices and a few different meats. "I'd love to have you over for dinner, maybe. That is, if you like stew."

He grinned so wide it almost blinded her. "I love stew," he said a little too enthusiastically. "I'll come." She nodded her head and blushed, looking down at her table. He slid the list out from underneath her fingertips carefully and inspected it.

Rabbit meat

_Red wine_

_Bay leaf (1)_

_Dashed pepper_

_Sliced, sautéed mushrooms_

"I can get these items for you," he told her. "My buddy Sam's wife has got all these products and when I tell her that I'm getting them for you, she'll surely let me use them."

She began to nod when a sudden realization struck her. "Wait…you talk about me to your friends?" she asked. His face instantly turned around as he folded up the note and stuck it into his back pocket.

"That's not important," he protested. "But anyways, I feel like I should take something for the dinner. If it's gonna be a date, or whatever, I figure I'd be nice and get these things for you."

Her eyes almost popped out of her head. "This…this is a date?"

His face reddened as he scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. When he regained his confidence, he puffed out his chest and nodded. "Yeah. It's a sort of date, I guess."

_Holy crow, it's my first real date!_ She thought. "It's my first sort-of date, then," she told him with a tiny smile.

"Good," he smiled. "I get to set your expectations high, then."

She poured herself a glass of lemonade and leaned back in her chair, sipping on the sweet fruit juice. "Why's your dad immobilized, if you don't mind me asking?"

Jacob blinked, sighing. "Well…my parents got into a car crash when I was seven. He lost the use of his legs."

Bella felt horrible. "I'm so sorry. But your mom's okay, right?"

"Nah. Died in the crash."

_You stupid, stupid person. Why would you ask that?_ Her internal conscience screamed. He looked a little upset, staring at the table longingly.

"You're kinda beautiful," she blurted, desperate for something to break the horrible silence.

He sniffed a laugh, glancing up at her. "I was thinking something more along the lines of handsome, or radiant, but that's okay too."

She blushed. "How long have you been growing out your hair?" she asked him.

He glanced down at his long, silky black locks. "Uh…since I was fifteen, I guess."

"I love it."

"Yeah, well I hate it."

She gasped. "Why do you hate it?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe it's because no one really has long hair in Forks if they're a guy. I feel…I dunno, Paul thinks long hair's feminine, or whatever."

She snorted. "First up, who the hell's this Paul guy, telling you long hair's feminine? Mister Black, you're anything but feminine."

He grinned at her compliment and licked his lips subconsciously. Her scent spiked with arousal at the action. He inhaled deeply, his eyes flickering slightly. "Thank you, Miss Swan. Billy doesn't want me to cut it, but Paul does. At least a little bit. Maybe up to my chin, like Seth's."

Bella had no idea who he was speaking of, but she went along with it. "Back in Jacksonville, I used to cut my uncle's hair all the time. If you wanted a trim, I could…"

His face lit up instantly. "For real? Here?"

She nodded her head slightly, perhaps regretting what she had just said. "Um…sure. I'll play Barber Bella today."

0o0o0o0o

The scissors cut off lock after lock. She watched black chunks of hair fall into the sink. She splashed some more water onto his hair, making Jacob grumble when some got in his eyes.

"Sorry," she giggled.

"You wanna play water fight? There's something different, sunshine. So be careful with that water of yours." Jacob snapped jokingly, his lips quirking into a little smile.

She snipped off a little bit more, taking some of his bangs back a little. "I'll just tell you right now…I think this new look could really grow on me."

He swallowed a lump in his throat when she stepped between his legs and leaned her torso against his chest to reach a little further. His big, hot hands settled on her tiny hips, steadying her.

Lust formed where there was once nervousness, and Jacob felt the bulge in his pants become just a little bit harder to ignore. "Almost done," she murmured, pressing up against him a little harder.

He did the unspeakable when her knee rubbed him the right way accidentally.

He moaned.

She jumped back, thinking she hurt him. His breath caught in his throat as the pleasure built slightly. "No, I'm fine. Sorry," he mumbled. She pursed her lips.

"I'm done, anyways. You wanna stand up and look in the mirror?" she asked softly.

So he stood. Tall.

And he looked in the mirror.

"Jesus."

Her face got bright red. "You don't like it."

He shook his head quickly. "No, it's…it's better than I could have imagined it to be. You did a really, really good job."

Now Jacob's hair hung close to his shoulders, and some of the silky black hairs hung in his face. She stepped behind him with a hair tie and jumped a few times, trying to reach the back of his head. "You're too tall," she whined.

He ducked down a little, allowing her to stand on the chair and tie his hair back into a low ponytail. Pieces of his hair slipped from the tie and framed his face perfectly, making him look amazingly hot, in her opinion.

"It's really nice. It's almost exactly like Seth's."

She nodded and hopped down off of the chair. "Okay. I don't know who Seth is, but I'm guessing that's a good thing."

He nodded back. "Mmm-hmm. It is."

She smiled. "You're absolutely beautiful." Then she added, "I mean, handsome."

He turned and hooked a finger under her chin, turning her face up to his. "It's okay. You're…you're absolutely beautiful too."

She laughed and shook her head. "You're something. I'm plain and mousy, and short, and pale…and unattractive. Or so I've heard."

His demeanor changed like a chemical reaction. "Who said that?" he cocked his head, curling his lip in disgust.

"Men," she snorted. "I hate men."

He chuckled humorlessly, shaking his head in disbelief. "Any man who makes that claim will lose his tongue. I promise you."

She looked up at him, quickly realizing that he was not the kind to kid when it came to the particular situation. "Oh."

The longer she stood there in all her sheer beauty, telling him that men called her plain and unattractive, the angrier he became. And he was almost glad for the call when it happened.

[Jacob. Leech near Old Quil's property, bordering the river.] came Jared's voice.

_[I'm there,]_ he replied.

"Listen sunshine, I gotta go. I'll see you around tomorrow okay?" he told her.

She nodded her head and pointed her finger at him. "Yup. For our sort-of date."

He gave her his best smile, even though he sure as hell wasn't in the mood to smile. "Right. Until our sort-of date, then."

She gave him a small finger wave and watched him dart out of her door and into the rain. "Until the sort-of date."

**0o0o0o0o**

**What did you think? The faster you review, the faster you get the 'date' that many of you have requested. Plus, I love, love, love hearing from you all. It makes my day go from a 2 to a 200.**

**Courtney xx**


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: Thanks to all those who reviewed. Here's the date (: Also, in this chapter, you'll see a little bit of Jake's behind the scenes with Emily and Sam at the pack mother's house.**

**Song: Possibility by Lykke Li (I imagined this song playing around the part when Jacob leaves from Bella's house, even though he doesn't want to go.)**

**Chapter Five:**

Her kitchen smelled absolutely heavenly. The rabbit stew was almost finished, and was bubbling in a pot on the stove near the window. It was Thursday, and she took off that day to devote her time to tidying her house and readying it for the sort-of date.

It was about six thirty at night, and the sun was sinking deeper into the sky, its colors spreading out into the sky like a watercolor painting. She left her windows opened, curtains blowing with the breeze, the after scent of fresh rain hanging in the air.

She flicked on the string lights that were hung around her kitchen and brought over the homemade candles to the table and lit them with a small match. It was warm that night; Bella wore her favorite peach-colored frock and a tad bit of mascara to enhance her eyelashes.

Bella padded back to the cupboard where she fetched two glass bowls and put them on the countertop next to the pot of hot rabbit stew. She dipped her spoon into the mix and dished some out for Jacob.

He'd stopped by her house that afternoon to drop off the ingredients that he'd generously fetched for her. There had come a knock at the door and she'd nearly shattered her vocal chords with her high-pitched scream when she almost collided with the bloody, gory mess hanging from the rafters in her porch. There had been a basket filled with everything she needed and a note attached to the side of the handle.

_Sunshine, _

_Here's everything you need. Emily, the woman on the Reservation that I told you about, was happy to supply everything for you. In this basket's the red wine, the bay leaf, the dashed pepper, and some sautéed mushrooms. As for the rabbit, I was kind enough to supply that myself. I even skinned it for you! That way, all you have to do is cook it up and drop it in. See you in a few hours for our sort-of date._

_Jacob_

_Ps. Try not to walk into the rabbit. I think I put it too close to your door._

A knock at the door made her attention crackle. She set the bowls down at the table and merrily made her way over to the door. "Hi," she greeted him through the screen door. He smiled and waved.

His freshly cut hair was tied back into the little ponytail in the back of his head and he wore tight muscle shirts and cutoffs. "Um…you gonna let me in, or am I just gonna have to eat my stew out here?" Jacob spoke up

"Oh!" she exclaimed, swinging open the door and allowing him inside. "I'm such a pea-brain, sorry."

He waved it off, inhaling deeply. "This…this smells absolutely amazing." He inspected Bella's house. It was pretty dark except for the roaring fire and the string lights hanging around the kitchen…and the really good smelling candles on the table.

She pointed to his place at the table and he sat down eagerly. He'd had a long day with patrol and he was starving; there was just this one crazy fast leech that had taken the pack too long to catch and kill, making him miss every meal. He was lucky that he even made it to her house…if it were anybody else, he wouldn't have cared—he would have ditched and said that he was sick. But she was _sunshine,_ and he absolutely _couldn't _blow her off. He couldn't hurt her like that. She took her seat at the small table, which was exactly across from him.

She chewed her lip as he dipped his spoon into the stew and shovel a bite into his mouth, opening her own mouth when he did. He groaned at the taste. "How do you like it?" she asked curiously. "It's my first time making stew."

He swallowed and looked at her through the dim candlelight. "It's amazing," he murmured before adding, "And it won't be your only time making stew. The guys would love this."

She dipped her spoon into her stew and shoveled some into her mouth. Jacob was right, it was amazing. Suddenly, she popped up at the remembrance of drinks. She flew to the cupboard, Jacob's eyes trailing behind her curiously. "What do you want for a drink?" she asked him.

"Water's fine," he said between bites of his stew. He was wolfing it down like it was the last time he'd ever be able to eat.

She poured them both a glass of ice water and came back around to the table. She set his cup in front of him, watching him gulp down half the liquid in a few seconds as she sat down in her own chair.

Bella, on the other hand, took dainty small sips. "So…tell me about your friends. You've, um, mentioned them a few times and I really don't know who they are."

Jacob nodded. "Of course," he began. "I'll start with Sam. Sam Uley. He's kind of like the boss of our—" He almost said 'pack.' "…group. He's got his wife Emily, and she's pregnant with Sam's first kid—it's a boy. Sam's thrilled."

She smiled and spooned a piece of tender rabbit meat out of her stew. "That's great! I give Emily and Sam my congrats."

"Yeah," he huffed. "Then there's Jared Cameron. He's like Sam's second in command. He's got his long-time girlfriend Kim with him almost twenty-four seven. Kim can definitely get on some of the guys' nerves."

Bella was actually quite interested in what Jacob had to say about his "group."

Paul Lahote was the hothead with the bad temper and somewhat anger issues. He was definitely a ladies man and has probably "slept with a good amount of Res whores" before he met Jacob's sister Rachel.

Seth Clearwater, 16 was a really sweet guy that cared about most everyone's feelings, otherwise known as the marshmallow of the group. He had an older sister, Leah, who was really stuck up, stubborn and opinionated.

"She sounds like a female dog," Bella had said. Jacob had agreed.

Embry Call was the tall and lanky mechanic, who was most likely the smartest and most logical of all of the group members. He was a ladies man like Paul, but Lahote always stole his spotlight—and he always ended up with watching Paul get the girl.

Quil Ateara was the jokester of the group, cracking smart ass jokes here and there. He always had Emily's niece Claire Young attached to his hip.

Brady Fuller was a 13 year old, making him one of the youngest. He was nearly 6 feet tall, with a mouth on him, just like Quil.

Collin Littlesea was also 13, and a good friend of Brady's. He idolized Sam like was super-man, and had the biggest crush on Seth's older sister Leah.

Bella was done her stew by the time he was done talking. "And where do you fit in? I don't really know that much about you."

Jacob Black, phased at 15, now currently 18 going on 19. Future Alpha of the pack—would rename the pack from Uley Pack to Black Pack. It rolled better, plus it was his name. He was the real second hand man to Sam, due to the fact that he was supposed to be the Alpha. He just didn't phase first. And Jacob hadn't imprinted yet, if you asked the guys.

He smirked. "Everyone has a interesting stuff about them. You tell me yours, and I'll tell you mine."

She tapped her fingernails on the table. "Well, I love gardening. I've been doing it now for four years, even though I haven't grown anything until this summer."

He scooped up another spoonful of his stew. "I'm a mechanic, and I fix cars for a living."

She frowned and shook her head. "No! That doesn't count. I knew that you worked as a mechanic."

He folded his arms and raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, well I knew that you loved gardening."

"Did not."

"Did too."

She sighed dramatically. "Fine. I'm a total klutz and I fall about four times a day."

He sniffed a laugh. "Like, trip and fall down?"

She nodded, ashamed.

He clinked his spoon against the glass bowl. "I was 6 foot when I was thirteen."

Her eyes widened. "Just like Brady?"

Jacob nodded his head. "Just like Brady."

She shook her head in amazement. "You Res guys are crazy tall and muscular. You must have gotten the good gene, or something."

Jacob snorted. If anything, he got the bad gene. Being like he was wasn't all it was cut out to be. _You are brave and powerful spirit warriors, protecting your tribe! You should be honored to have been chosen for this duty. _Old Quil had said.

"I used to be made fun of at my school because I was so pale." Bella commented, taking a sip of her water. "They said, _you're from Arizona? How aren't you burnt to a crisp?_ And I said that maybe it was because I stayed inside all day and played by myself."

He ate the last bite of his stew. Bella took his plate when he asked for more. She had a whole pot, so she was okay with him having seconds. Or thirds. Or fourths. "I actually can draw pretty well."

That sparked her interest as she returned to the table with his new bowl of stew. "Nuh-uh. You're lying. You probably draw like crap."

He smirked and looked at her with a challenging demeanor. "Oh yeah?" He pulled a small piece of paper and handed it to her. It was a picture of a Native American girl with feathers in her hair. The pencil strokes were so intricate and perfect—he wasn't lying when he said that he could draw.

"Amazing," she breathed. "You weren't lying, obviously."

As she stared breathlessly down at his drawing, a new drawing idea popped into his head. The way she looked at that very moment was absolutely stunning. The soft lights cast off of her pale, smooth skin, highlighting parts of her face that were not noticeable before. Her long lashes billowed shadows down onto her prominent cheek bones, summer freckles dusting her nose.

"You know, I forgot to ask you how the guys liked your hair." Bella spoke up.

He grinned at her. "They like it, especially Seth. He wants to meet you, kind of. They all do. But I don't know if you'd be open to that. Some of them are kind of…crude. You've already met Quil and Embry, and the way they were acting at The Garage was completely mild."

Bella giggled. "Maybe sometime, I would meet them."

Jacob finished up his stew and glanced at the time. It was 7:15, and he heard the voices already.

[I think Jake's with little miss sunshine.] - Quil

[Pussy.] - Paul

[Jake's finally opening up to people! He hasn't done that in ages, you guys.] - Embry

_Fucking shut up,_ he hissed internally.

Bella took his empty bowl to the sink and rinsed it out. "I made some peach tarts, if you wanted some." She showed him the glass bowl with the dainty pastries lying inside.

He nodded his head. "I've never had peach tarts, but I'm guessing they taste good if you made them."

She chuckled and handed him a little glass plate with a peach tart lying in the center. "I actually used to be a horrible cook until I took this one cooking class at the community center."

[Cooking. Jake needs a girl who can cook—just like Emily.] – Quil

[Heh. Jake needs a lot more than just a girl who can cook. His constant case of blue balls has been driving me wild lately.] – Paul

_Stay the hell out of my head and you wouldn't have that problem,_ he found himself frowning at the wall as he tried to hush all the guys bickering in his head.

"You okay?" she asked, sitting down in front of him and dining on her own peach tart. He nodded his head. She bit into the pastry and moaned. "Peaches are my absolute favorite fruit. I always have peaches on hand—and I squeeze the peach juice into the juicer and it all comes spurting out in this delicious mess."

[Yes! Take half the sentence out and she says, 'I squeeze and it all comes spurting out in this delicious mess.'] – Quil

[Come on you guys, she was talking about peaches. Don't get Jake mad—he's coming to Emily's after this.] – Seth

[And what's the softie gonna do? Kick our asses? He's barely out of puppy phase.] -Paul

[I agree, I kind of thought of dicks too.] – Brady

Jacob rolled his eyes and shook his head, and then he regained his composure when he noticed her awkwardly staring at him. "Uh…I love peaches too. These tarts are really good."

She beamed at him with her smile so bright that it instantly lit the darkened room. "Thank you! It means the world. I really haven't had someone over for dinner in a really long time, so I'm glad to hear my cooking and baking skills haven't perished."

He waved her off and finished up the tart. "They definitely haven't perished."

[I'm afraid Jake's sex drive will if he doesn't get it soon.] – Jared

[His balls will shrivel up and die…oh, the horror!] – Quil

[Jake's cum will be like powder.] – Paul

A chorus of laughter ensued, and Jake felt like he wanted to smash something. They were ruining his date with Bella, and they weren't even physically there.

_And I'm surprised you never got an STD with all the fucking around you did. _Jake countered viciously, hearing a bunch of 'oohs' in the back of his head.

[Ooh, burn!] – Embry

_And if you ever hurt Rach, I'll rip off your balls and make you eat them._

[_Double_ burn!]

Paul proceeded to remain quiet after that.

When he looked up, he saw the figure of a goddess beckoning him to follow her to the couch positioned in front of the fireplace. So he stood, and like a puppet, followed her.

He plopped down on the couch and stared at her through the dim light. She sat close to him, staring into the fire. "I love watching the logs burn," she commented. Jacob stole the opportunity to scoot in a little closer to her while she wasn't looking.

He glanced at her through his peripherals, his hands itching to touch her on his lap. "Why?" it was a conversation starter, and he wanted to hear her sweet voice.

"Because I love seeing the flames dance over the logs, each tiny spark floating into the night air. The crackle of burning wood is lulling, almost. And the shadows…they hide things, but yet also reveal them. If you know what I mean," she whispered, glancing over at him.

The way she spoke about the fire captivated him. "Yeah, well I love listening to the rain at night. I leave my windows open, and hear each drop explode on the pavement, how it slicks the grass and how the thunder grumbles softly outside."

She looked at him, amazed. "Did…did you really just say that?"

He nodded, though unsure of himself. Did he say something wrong? Did he mess something up?

"Wow," she whispered in complete shock and delight. "You certainly have a way with words, Jacob. Do you read poetry? Or perhaps…do you write it?"

He swallowed slightly. "I don't write it. The closest I've ever gotten to writing poetry was something along the lines of 'roses are red, violets are blue, you're pretty and I'm handsome too' on my seventh grade Valentine's card."

Bella laughed, her head tilting back. "And did your Valentine say yes after hearing your beautiful poem?"

Jacob grinned. "Of course she did. I worked my charms, sunshine."

She laid her head back against the pillows. "I thought I told you not to call me that, huh?"

"I never listen," he remarks.

"If you call me sunshine, I call you my…my personal sun." She retorted.

He snorted and ran a hand through his hair. "That's the best thing you can think of?" he challenged.

She huffed and folded her arms. "How's Mooner for a nickname?"

He made a face. "Nah, I think I'll take personal sun over that one, sunshine. I don't moon people."

She laughed again, the sound of it like music to his ears. "Alright, I guess that's fair." A tendril of her soft chocolate hair swept in front of her eyes as she turned to look at him again. His hand slowly lifted, pushing the hair from her eyes and tucking it behind her ear. "Thanks," she whispered.

A magnetic pull dragged him closer and closer to her until their noses touched. She could feel his heat radiating off of him—he could hear her heartbeat, feel her quickened pulse, and smell her want.

Their lips were a fraction of an inch away from each others. He could smell her vanilla scent so strong over the scents of the stew, homemade candles, and burning logs. He wanted to kiss her, so he swooped in.

But at that very moment, her telephone rang and the mood was snapped like twig. She blushed and took a deep breath. "That's probably my father. I gotta take it," she sighed. He nodded and longingly watched her walk away to answer her buzzing pink cell-phone.

[Emily's making your favorite banana muffins. I guess word's gotten around.] - Embry

_You bastards can't ever keep a damn secret, can you?_

[Don't be like that. Are you leaving soon? We have to discuss our plans tonight.] - Embry

_She's on the phone right now. We were going to kiss. You and the phone interrupt at horrible times._

[Sorry, man. Sam's getting a little antsy over here. There's been leeches all over the place lately, and he wants to execute.] – Embry

[Yeah, and not wait for Jakey to play kissy-kissy with his new fling.] – Paul

He had to divert his attention to keep from going bitch-ass crazy in Bella's house. She was _not_ some fling. He would _never_ treat her like the other girls. Ever.

She hung up the phone and turned back to him. He stood near the door, with his hands shoved deep into his pockets. "Listen…I, um, gotta go."

She frowned and tugged at the ends of her peach dress. "So soon? I mean, can't you stay a little longer? I've got nothing else to do tonight."

That stabbed him deep. He shook his head, even though all he wanted to do was ditch the pack meeting and kiss her until his lips bled. "I told Sam I'd be over at his place around this time. He wanted to…" Think of a good excuse, Jake. "He wanted to discuss work at The Garage," he lied.

She gave a measly smile and nodded her head in approval. "A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do. You have fun, okay?"

He pulled her into his arms and gave her a warm hug. "I wish I could stay," he murmured. "Our sort-of date was sort-of…great." She pulled back and giggled softly.

"I thought so too," she told him. "I'll see you around?"

He tapped her nose with the tip of his finger. "You got it, sunshine. Try not to miss me too much."

She watched him leave.

She watched every possibility of the night leave.

"I'll try, personal sun."

0o0o0o0o

"I want to meet her!" Emily gushed, holding her round belly in her hands. "She seems like such an amazing person. And she holds a lot of the same interests as I do. We both like gardening, cooking, and doing things the old-fashioned way. And you said she made candles as well? We're like twins."

Jacob's face turned bright red. Sam chuckled and patted him on the back. "C'mon, let the woman have some girl time. I'm sure hanging with Kim can get annoying sometimes."

He shrugged off his Alpha's hand. "Bella's not ready. What don't you understand about that? Someone could say something, something could slip and she'd never, ever talk to me again."

Sam glanced back at his wife, who was pulling a batch of cookies out of her oven. "You don't know that," he murmured. "The girls are very accepting. Especially when they love you."

Jacob laughed humorlessly. "Bella barely knows me. If she knew what I was…she'd feel anything but love."

The Alpha rolled his eyes and took a basket of fresh banana muffins out to the other room. Emily instantly pounced on him once her husband left the room. "Please, please bring her. I'm making a dinner on Saturday, and I'd love if she came and met all of us." The pregnant woman begged.

He ran a hand through his hair and shook his head. "She's a total introvert. I don't want her meeting all of the obnoxious guys. She'd freeze up immediately."

The woman frowned, the scars on her face crinkling. "Just invite her and see what she says after that—"

He held up his hand to cease her chatter. "I said _no, _Em. I'm only trying to protect her." Truth was, he wanted her all to himself. That way he could do anything he wanted with her, to her, and keep her from the greedy eyes of the rest of the men. His wolf clawed at his skin whenever her name was spoken by a man other than himself.

Emily put her hands on her shapely hips and frowned. "Protect her from what, huh? Us? What are we going to do to her? You should be more worried about the leeches lurking around that part of the wood."

Jacob's face paled instantly at the thought of Bella being hurt or even worse, killed, by a nasty, vile, bloodsucker.

She turned to pop a batch of cookies in the oven. "Plus, I think the more you have her at your side, the safer you'll feel about leaving her alone. I know the strings are pulling, Jake. Your wolf will feel more at ease. And so will she. And you don't have to worry about leeches that much if she's by your side a lot. Like the _**Kim and Jared method**_."

He greatly considered what the Alpha female pack-mother said. And what she said was true. If he didn't want Paul or Quil talking to her, he could just whisk her away to the kitchen to talk to Emily and Kim. "I'll think about it."

Emily's smile grew as she squealed and clapped her hands. "It's like getting a new toy," she giggled. "I like her already. You always said you didn't want to be bound like this…but the wolf wants what the wolf wants, huh?"

Jacob shrugged. He knew what his wolf wanted, but he didn't know what the _man _wanted.

**0o0o0o0o**

**Thanks so much for reading, you guys. More Sunshine + Jake action to come! Reviews are like candy (:**


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note: Thanks for tuning in and leaving a review last time! The poem is Robert Frost's.**

**The Quileute Dictionary is at the end of the chapter. I got these words from quileutenation . org. Some of the letters were crazy and Microsoft wouldn't let me copy and paste those random, unknown symbols in my writing. So I made a few adjustments for the sake of the story. Thanks!**

**Chapter Six:**

"Some say the world will end in fire

Some say in ice

I think I know enough of desire

To hold with those who favor fire

But if I had to perish twice

I think I'd know enough of hate

To say that for destruction ice

Is also great and would suffice."

She looked up at him with a certain adoration in her eyes and smiled. "You found this for me?" she asked him softly. He nodded once and gave a meek smile in return. He had brought her to the creek on that warm day to spend just a little more time with her before his patrol at night.

"You asked me if I wrote poetry, and I said no. But I never answered you on whether or not I read it," he took the slip of paper back from her and stared at it. "My older sisters used to have this huge poetry book in their room, and they used to make me read it when I was being annoying to them."

She smiled softly. "You had good sisters," she remarked.

Jacob rolled his eyes. "You've never met them," he snorted in response. "But anyways, when they used to make me read the poetry book, I'd find these intriguing poems and write them down. This one," he waved the slip of paper in the air. "I think I wrote this one down when I was 16."

Bella glanced up at him through the sunlight. "I really like this one," she murmured. A gust of wind blew through the trees, cooling off her overheated skin. She wore her hair different that day; in two French braids on either side of her head, and Jacob liked the new look.

Another breeze swept through and snatched the poem right from Jacob's hand, flying it over to the other side of the creek. "Shit," he cursed softly, standing up instantly. He gave her a reassuring look. "Don't worry, I'll go get it. You stay here."

The poem was stuck in the mud and grass, flapping wildly with the wind. Jacob stepped one bared foot into the muddy bottom of the creek and began to slowly trudge his way across the water. When he reached the end, he grabbed the paper and held it up triumphantly.

She smiled and clapped her hands. "You got it!" she exclaimed. He began to make his way back onto shore, this time stepping on a stone to avoid the mud. He was close to making it back to the other side when he slipped and fell into the water.

He landed in the mud with the cool water rushing over his skin. "Jesus," he grumbled. The poem flew with the wind all the way over to where Bella stood, laughing her head off. She was laughing at him, and his wolf didn't quite like being laughed at.

"Are you okay?" she asked, offering him a hand. He nodded slowly, reaching a hand out of the mud to grasp hers.

Then he had an idea.

With a sharp tug, Jacob Black tugged the frail girl into the creek with him. And she went flying on top of him, a scream caught in her throat. He was forced to lay back in the water as her weight pushed him down.

Mud was everywhere.

_Bella_ was everywhere.

"Why did you do that?" she asked breathlessly, her eyes both confused and lustful, but her tone of voice angered. He tucked a strand of dripping wet hair behind her hair and cradled her cheek in his massive hand.

He couldn't think of a romantic answer when all he could feel was her skin, slippery and wet against his hot body. "The water's nice," he choked out. She sat up defiantly and pushed at his chest, all the while straddling his hips. He groaned, propping himself up onto his elbows.

"You oaf," she hissed. "Now I'm all wet because of you."

He smirked. God, did he have a dirty mind.

She wriggled again as she pressed her muddy handprints to his black wife-beater shirt, causing Jacob to groan louder. Her warm womanhood against his hard cock was almost unbearable. Her eyes grew wider and she instantly wiped at his shirt. "I'm sorry. Did I hurt you?"

Jacob chuckled at her naivety and innocence. "No, no…you didn't hurt me at all." She crawled off of him and knelt in the mud, her pink tee shirt and jean shorts caked with mud.

"Ugh!" she squealed. The feeling of the wet, muddy shirt clinging to her skin felt disgusting. She flapped her arms wildly before quickly peeling the wet tee off of her and flinging it to the ground.

Jacob's breath caught in his throat. She wore a floral bra which made her petite breasts seem fuller and rounder. She noticed him looking. "Keep your eyes to yourself," she whispered self-consciously, scooping up a little ball of mud and flinging it at his chest.

"How can I when you're standing there like that?" he told her. But he was a gentleman so he adverted his eyes to please her.

"Thank you," she murmured.

He grabbed a handful of mud and pressed it into her hand when she wasn't paying attention. She screeched as it slid through her fingers in a slimy, gooey mess. She shook it from her hand, flinging mud into her wet braids. "So that's how you want to play?" she asked him.

He gave her a challenging nod. She scooped up some mud and flung it at him, but as clever as he was, he ducked out of the way just in time for the mud to splatter on a rock behind his head. "You missed," he whispered.

Jacob got another handful of mud. Her eyes widened and she began to run. And if anyone knew a wolf's favorite pastime, they'd know it was to chase things and hunt them down.

So he chased her down the creek a little, delighted at hearing her tinkling laughter and short, high-pitched screams of exhilaration.

He caught her near a tall willow tree, wrapping his arms around her middle section and rubbing his muddy hands across her pale white torso. She was inevitably defeated, captured by the mighty and powerful wolf.

She turned around in his arms slowly, gazing at him with interest. He grinned at her beautiful form caked with mud. "Now you look like me, loca." He traced the plains of her skin with the tip of his finger, trailing them to her cheeks. "Kabata," he whispered, pointing to her skin. "Kaliso," to the mud.

Then he pointed to himself. "Jacob _Shipa,"_ he grinned. "Poh-ohk."

She blushed, her eyes wide. "Sorry, I don't understand," she whispered, shaking her head.

He chuckled. "You don't need to understand," he told her, trailing a line of mud down her nose. "You need to feel…and to listen."

She nodded her head and glanced at his lips. "That's a beautiful language. It's Quileute, right?"

"Right."

Overhead, the skies darkened and thunder began to rumble. "Huh," she pondered aloud. "I didn't think it was supposed to rain today."

He wiped his hands on the grass, leaving strokes of mud in the green. "We'd best be heading back, anyways. If this mud dries, it'll be hell to get off."

0o0o0o0o

By the time they arrived back at Bella's house, it was already pouring. Jacob's dark blue vintage muscle car that he called by the name of Hazel had driven them home. Bella sat on a towel, with another wrapped around her shivering shoulders.

He exited the truck and was instantly bombarded with sharp droplets of rain. "Fuck," he cursed, walking up to Bella's porch as she rushed out and squealed as the rain whipped her as well.

She raced onto the porch as well, face covered in mud. He sat down in a porch seat and tried his best not to smile at the way she looked at that very moment—but alas, he couldn't hold back.

"What?" she asked, placing her hands on her dainty hips. She dropped both towels to the floor. For the second time that day he felt like his heart was going to swell so large and burst. That muddy floral bra holding her in so tightly, those blue jean shorts that hugged her little behind…he could dine off of the sight before him for days and days upon end.

"Nothing," he murmured. "It's just that you're…um, just a little muddy."

She laughed and turned to the porch, splaying her palms on the wet wood railing. "You said that you liked the rain, am I right?"

He sat forward in his seat and gave her a nod. "I did."

A bubble of courage rose in her chest, and was let out with the sigh that would change their friendship forever. "Shower with me."

Jacob almost choked on his own spit. "Sorry, what?"

She gave him an exasperated look. "I said, _shower with me._ You told me you liked the rain, so…" She leapt off of the porch and went colliding into the rain gracefully. "So come on."

He watched her from underneath the hood of the porch with half-lidded eyes, and his lip between his teeth. "Jesus. You'll catch a cold, or something shitty like that."

She tilted her head towards the sky. "Now you sound like my father!" she cried out. She brought her chin back down and stared at him through the rain. "Come on, you big lug. Take a natural rain shower with me." She gestured to her muddy arms. "Let's wash today away."

Now that was something he couldn't resist. He ripped off his tee-shirt and he walked down the steps agonizingly slowly. "I don't think I've ever been out in the rain for fun…or to take a shower."

Another burst of courage ran through her. She stripped out of her jean shorts and flung them aside. "Now I barely know you, Jacob Black. So I'm trusting you right now…hell, I think I'd been trusting you since the first moment we met. Funny, isn't it?"

He nodded. His hair instantly got drenched. He ripped his ponytail out and ran a hand through his black shoulder-length locks, pushing wet tendrils out of his chocolate eyes. "Sure is, sunshine."

She held out her hands.

He took them, bringing her in close.

She wore matching floral panties that hid too much, hid too little. "Feel it," she whispered, entwining her fingers into his. "Feel the rain washing today away. Feel the mud running down the plains of your cheeks, down your torso…"

She glanced at the torso in question, taking notice of his beautifully sculpted eight-pack that looked hard enough to wash clothes on. She took notice of the 'V' that led into his cutoffs. She took notice of the bulging muscles that tensed up instantly whenever she touched him. She took notice of everything that made him perfectly Jacob.

Her fingers touched a sensitive spot on his neck, causing him to moan. "I feel it," he told her, lust laced within his tone of voice. "Can you feel me?"

A warm hand came up on her lower back, rubbing slowly in circles, washing the mud away from her skin. His touch was so warm and inviting, and it took her a moment to realize that a man that she'd just met was making her feel like this. "I can feel you," she whispered back.

She licked her lips, her pink tongue darting out to moisten them. And it was then that he had to hold a great amount of self-restraint on himself to prevent his wolf from taking over his senses and fucking her right there on the spot.

It felt like an anvil was dropped on his chest when she broke away from his grasp and started out further into her backyard.

And again, he pursued her.

He'd always pursue her.

Follow her…wherever she went, he'd be by her side.

He caught her around the waist and lifted her into his arms. She struggled at first, but then relaxed into his arms. He held her back to his stomach, burying his nose in her hair. "Why do you run from me?" he asked her quietly.

She blinked in the rain, raindrops catching on her lashes. "I'm not running," she whispered back to him, smiling up at him. "I'm beckoning."

He spun her around. "So this is a game?"

She squinted her eyes and tilted her head slightly. "It's quite possible."

"Well I'm not in the mood for games," he grumbles, lurching forward and capturing Bella's lips with his own. She gasped into the kiss, her eyes flying open wide. She broke away almost immediately, her fingers flying to her lips and her face as red as a beet.

She looked up at him, amazed. "Why did you kiss me?"

He shifted his weight onto one foot and shoved his hands into his pockets. "It's really hard not to kiss you when you're standing there like that, playing your games of beckoning."

Her shaking fingers touched her lips again. "I've never been kissed before. I never let anyone kiss me."

It thrilled him to be the first to kiss her lips, the first to take a piece of her innocence away from him and lock it away in his heart. "Was no one ever good enough for you, sunshine?"

She shrugged. "I hate men."

"But you don't hate me," he interjected. She shook her head. "Good. Then let me ask you just one thing, okay?" She nodded.

"Ask away."

"Am I good enough for you?"

A silence swept between them. The rain poured down faster and thicker and she found it getting quite difficult to breathe. "Maybe we should go inside now."

He watched her retreat, a sinking feeling in his chest. "Wait. You didn't answer my question."

She turned back to him and shook her head. "You don't need to understand. You need to feel." Bella grabbed his hand and pressed it over her heart. His eyes widened as he felt her heart beating so quickly beneath her breast. "And…do you feel that?"

She quoted what he told her earlier. And a wave of adoration blinded him. "I do."

She turned bright red before turning and bursting up onto her porch. Water rolled down her cheeks as she waited for him. "It's really cold out here, you know. I'm going to go get changed. Did you want to stay for lunch maybe?"

He couldn't stay for lunch no matter how much he wanted to. "I can't today."

She looked upset. "That's okay." Bella steadied her hand on the door handle of her house. Jacob made his way over to his car Hazel and placed a hand along her hood. He glanced back at her.

"We had a good time today, huh sunshine?" he asked.

She leaned against the door frame and gazed out at him. "We sure did."

"I'll see you soon then."

Bella watched him hop into the car and rev up the engine. He backed out of the driveway, the wet tires squishing against the ground. Suddenly, he hit the brakes and rolled down the window. "I don't regret it, Bella Swan. I refuse to."

She was confused. She stood on her tiptoes and called back to him. "What are you talking about, Jacob Black?"

He gave her a small smile. "You know well what I'm talking about," he yelled. Her eyes bugged out of her head. He rolled up the window and drove off into the day.

Shaking fingers touched heated lips again.

**0o0o0o0o**

**This was an abnormally fast update in my opinion, so I better get a lot of thank you's! Anyways, obviously things are picking up here! So review and tell me what you thought of Jacob and Bella's first kiss. The real kiss will come later if you know what I mean ;)**

**Quileute Dictionary:**

**Shipa- black (in this case he's talking about himself as Jacob BLACK.)**

**Kabata- white**

**Kaliso- brown**

**Loca- crazy girl (I'm actually not sure if that's Quileute, but Jake said it in the movies.)**

**Poh-ohk- Indian male**

**Courtney xx**


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note: Thanks to my reviewers, I now know that loca is not Quileute, and is in fact Spanish. I think we all had a good laugh at that one!**

**Attention: SUNSHINE just got nominated to for the best Jacob/Bella pairing on Fanfiction! It's on www . non-canonawards . blogspot . com. I am literally freaking out here. I really want to know who nominated me. So whoever it was, you better fess up in a review so I can shower you with love! (:**

**Chapter Seven:**

EARLIER IN THE DAY

She was on her porch step, nose stuffed inside of a book and her mind drifting into her fairy-tale land. It was the first time that she was really thinking about a topic other than Jacob since yesterday.

She read the marvelous novel _Anna Karenina_ by Leo Tolstoy, getting lost in the love of the married Anna and the young virtuous Count Vronsky of Imperial Russia. "_He stepped down, trying not to look long at her, as if she were the sun, yet he saw her, like the sun, even without looking," she read the line aloud._

_And thoughts of Jacob flooded back into her mind. He'd not been gone for a very long time, yet she longed and yearned to see his sunny smile and warm touch. And the talk of the sun in the line of the book made her think of the silly old nickname that Jacob took pride in calling her._

_Sunshine._

Boy, was she far from sunshine. The only time she felt bright and happy was with him. The rest could be considered a shithole. She could be considered a shithole…of emotions and innuendos and naivety.

She closed _Anna Karenina_ and set it on the wooden floor. She wrapped her arms around her bare knees and rested her chin upon them. She was bored. She'd have to go to work later that evening and all she wanted to do was spend her time with the man she almost killed with her truck.

He saw her for who she was, and she was thankful for that.

A rustle from the woods diverted her attention from him long enough that she stood up and ran in and grabbed her father's rifle, the one he'd given to her to protect herself while she was alone in the woods.

It wasn't loaded, but she was hoping that she really wouldn't need it. A twig snapped and more rustling leaves sounded. She breathed softly, backing up onto the porch. It was midday, and most deadly animals were sleeping.

"Watch it be just a small rabbit, you ditz." Bella hissed at herself, pointing the rifle towards the sound. "Look at you carrying around a rifle like a tough girl." A tough girl was exactly the opposite of what Bella was.

When she focused back on the woods, she noticed two beautiful yellow something's glistening from the darkness of the tree line. She squinted her eyes. What was it? The more she squinted, the more she could see the black of giant pupils and the yellow irises.

She gasped and jumped back. Those yellow something's were an enormously large creature's glowing yellow eyes, staring straight at her. She loaded the gun quickly and pointed it, backing up slowly. The creature stepped forward slightly, a giant paw dancing on the borderline between the edge of her yard and the dark tree line.

Bella whimpered, her hands shaking under the heavy weight of the rifle. The 'click' of the full ammunition on the gun startled the creature. It stood a little taller, making it easier for her to see what it really was.

Reddish brown fur blowing in the wind.

A giant snout, with big gleaming yellow eyes.

Huge freakin' teeth.

The eyes followed her fingers to where her pointer lay on the trigger of the gun. It growled, then turn and ran back into the forest where it belonged. Bella hadn't realized that she'd broken into a nervous sweat until she felt droplets of sweat running down her cheeks.

She set down the gun carefully before wiping her forehead with the back of her hand. She'd never seen something so utterly large and terrifying before in her whole life. She knew that there was a possibility of bears and wolves in her part of the world, but she'd never seen something like that. Ever.

She grabbed her _Anna Karenina_ and her daddy's rifle before heading inside. She was done reading outside for the day. She would stay inside where it was safe from mysterious reddish brown monsters lurking in the dark haven of the forest.

Bella shut the door behind her and locked it well.

6 HOURS LATER

"Did you hear about the bear attacks going around?" Angelina asked her, wiping her wet hands on her apron. Bella shook her head. The redhead chewed her gum and checked the time. "We've got five minutes, Bella. I'll tell you quick before Mike comes back."

The tiny brunette nodded and followed her friend around the corner and into the back where the beer was stored. It was pretty cold in that room, and Bella found herself instantly shivering. "Can't we go any place else to chat?"

Angelina put her hands on her voluptuous hips and frowned. "Do you want to hear the stories or not, missy?"

The smaller girl blushed and nodded. "Fine, go ahead. But…tell me for I become a Popsicle."

The redhead sat down on a beer crate and rubbed her hands together to try and warm them up. "On Monday of this week, there had been four bear attacks. You knew that right?"

Bella nodded her head. "Yeah, I heard. It's horrible, isn't it?"

Angelina agreed. "Horrible, horrible. Anyways, the people turn up real bloody with chunks ripped out of their bodies and bites all over their skin. They're hitchhikers. At first the police thought it was a serial killer, but the damage done to these people look like those at the hands of a ferocious beast—a bear."

Bella stared at the wall, trying not to focus on what those poor human beings looked like so mauled like that. "I think I saw a bear today."

The redhead gasped, her red-nailed fingers flying to her mouth. "Oh my goodness! You saw the bear? Where did you see it?"

The brunette's head pounded as she remembered the incident from the afternoon. "It was by my house," she told Angelina. "I pointed at it with my rifle and I…I was gonna shoot it, but it got scared and ran away."

"That's crazy," Ang's thick Boston accent flowed over her cherry red lips. "Was it big? I bet it was a huge fucker."

The smaller girl flinched. Bella hated hearing curse words because her family had never used them (including never letting her use them), so the sound of a curse word was just vile and she thought it was completely unnecessary.

"I…I almost thought it was a wolf. It had the long snout and the eyes, and the tall, pointed ears. Its paw was enormously large with claws and teeth razor sharp."

Angelina rolled her eyes and hung a red fingernail on the tip of her bottom tooth. "Right, sweetie. A bear that looks like that? Hogwash. I'm pretty damn sure it was a bear. Maybe your senses were getting a little foggy, huh?"

Bella shrugged. Even though she was pretty sure of what she saw, she didn't bother argue with her only female-friend. "Guess so."

Outside the beer room, Mike's booming voice could be heard calling for Angelina. "Guess that's our call, sugar." The busty redhead dragged small, petite Bella out of the beer room and went to Mike's aid.

"Serve the last table over there," the boss said. "Then you can go on home. Oh, and Isabella?"

Her head snapped towards Mike, ready and waiting. "Yes sir?"

"You can go home now," Mike said, pointing towards the door. "I don't want you keeping Angelina away from her duties."

Bella's face brightened instantly. "B-but Sir—"

Her boss obviously did not want to hear it. "Have a good night, Isabella."

Her shoulders slumped as she began to untie her apron. The bar was getting to be a little more crowded (Bella considered it was because more drunkards came to the bar at nighttime versus the earlier evening shift) and Macie was about to take over Bella's shift to work the late one from nine o' clock to midnight.

Angelina grabbed Bella's skinny wrist before she could grab her coat from the rack. The younger girl gasped when she saw the redhead. "You'll get in trouble if you don't serve that table," Bella whispered.

Angelina rolled her big blue eyes. "Do you think I really give a shit about what old man Mike of the Wilderness says? I could care less. Anyways," she pulled the younger girl in for a hug. "You drive home safely. Don't get attacked by animals, you hear me? And if you see that bar, either call your daddy the police chief to come and shoot it or you grab your rifle and do it yourself."

Bella chuckled. "Okay."

"Angelina!"

"Guess that's Mike," the redhead sighed. "Bye Bella." She turned on her heel and stomped back inside. "I'm coming, you old coot!"

0o0o0o0o

It was ten o' clock when a knock sounded at her door. She'd gotten home about a half hour ago, and she was watching The Notebook, crying her eyes out about how beautiful and sweet it was. She paused the movie and dabbed at her eyes and nose with the tissue. She was kind of pissed that someone was interrupting her date with the movie, her tissues and her bowl of buffalo-wing flavored pretzels.

But she put on her happy face, restoring her eyes back to their normal glint. She swung open the door to see a half naked Jacob Black leaning against the frame of her doorway. "Sunshine," he greeted. He scanned her with his eyes before standing up abruptly. "Have you been crying?" he asked immediately.

She did a mental eye-roll. Stupid female hormones. She shook her head. "No, of course not," she lied.

He gave her a funny look. "Is this a bad time?"

"I said no," she sort-of snapped, sort-of whispered. "Please…don't keep on standing outside there like that. Come in. Have some…um, buffalo pretzels."

He stepped inside her house, clad in only a snug pair of cutoff jean shorts that reached his knees, washboard abs and slick copper skin visible in the firelight. He grinned at her in the darkness.

Quickly Bella realized that it was improper for a half-naked male and her standing in skimpy shorts and a showy tank top. She flicked on a light with record speed and gave a meek smile.

"What's up?" she asked.

He gulped and scratched the back of his head. "Nothing. Just wanted to check in. I missed you." His face turned bright red when her jaw dropped at his words. He quickly regained his composure. "Um, I missed having your sunshine in my dull-ass life."

She gave a small smile. "Me too."

He sat down on her couch. "So…I guess you've heard about the bears, huh?"

She shrugged, sitting at the other end of the couch. She wrapped a fuzzy red blanket around her shoulders and stared at him. "Of course I did. Who hasn't?"

Jacob rubbed his hands together softly. "You scared of the big bad monster, sunshine?" he teased.

She laughed, even though she didn't think it was quite funny at all. "Petrified," she corrected him. "I am absolutely petrified, Jacob Black. I won't go outside and read on my porch anymore. I heard about the grizzly attacks on those poor innocent people."

His face fell slightly, but he stopped himself before she could see his expression. "Yeah, I know. I did too. It's horrible, isn't it?"

Bella nodded vigorously, her eyes becoming wide and sparkling greatly. "Guess what I saw this morning? I think I saw the bear!"

His face paled. "You, um, saw the bear?"

She nodded again. "I did! But it didn't look like a bear at first. It was absolutely terrifying, I'll tell you. Gleaming yellow eyes, sharp teeth, reddish brown fur and a body size that was out of this world."

His face and demeanor darkened. "You were afraid, weren't you?" His eyes darkened and his lips turned into a frown.

She noticed, but she wasn't sure why he was so upset. "Of course. I almost shot it. It was probably going to attack me! I wish you were there to see it too."

His sweet chocolate brown eyes were now a deep coal black color and his jaw kept clenching up and unclenching. "It wasn't going to hurt you."

Bella stared at him with interest. "How do you know?"

"I can bet my money on it."

"Are you alright?"

He felt like he wanted to smash something into tiny pieces. He wanted to run into the woods and never ever come back. He was so ashamed…to be the monster she was petrified of, even though the killings weren't at the hands of him and his pack.

Jacob couldn't lose it in front of her. He couldn't hurt her like Sam hurt Emily. It would tear him down everyday; her bearing the physical scars that came at the hands of him and his rage. He gave her a blind smile.

"I'm okay now that I'm here. I missed having my sunshine around me. Things are a lot duller without you," he murmured, his tone teasing but his heart true.

She blushed. "I missed you too, Jacob. Even though we saw each other yesterday." They both chuckled. She offered him the bowl of popcorn. "Do you want some?"

"Sure." He took the bowl and devoured handful after handful of popcorn. Bella watched him in awe. He pointed at the television set where her movie was paused. "What are you watching?"

"The Notebook," she replied, watching him eat with fervor.

"My sisters watch that romantic shit," he snorted.

She began to laugh when a piece of popcorn fell out of his mouth. "Holy crow, you're hungry!"

The truth was, Jacob had just gotten off of patrol and headed over to her house to see if the "bears" had been lurking around the area. He hadn't eaten since noon that day. "I am very hungry," he told her proudly. "Haven't eaten dinner or anything in between since noon."

Her eyes widened. "Well that's not good for you."

He shrugged his massive shoulders. "I can live off of popcorn," he murmured

_I can live off of you, _is what he meant to say.

"Do you want something else to eat? I have a bag of chips. Or I made some chicken noodle soup for lunch this afternoon. I have tons and tons of left-overs from that!" He nodded at her and watched as she scurried off to the kitchen to fetch him the soup.

A breeze was carried in through the window as Jacob dug into the popcorn again. He smelled something sweet, and his eyes instantly snapped open. "Hey sunshine? Do you smell a really strong sugar scent here or is it just me?"

The brunette waltzed into the room with a warm bowl of soup and handed it to him. "No, all I can smell right now is that delicious chicken noodle soup I made. Far from sugar, huh?"

He tried to ignore it. Maybe it wasn't what he thought. He shoveled a spoonful of soup into his mouth and winked at his sunshine, wordlessly telling her that the taste was spot on. Another breeze wafted in through the window. It was sweet, oh so sickeningly sweet. He set down his bowl of soup and searched his mind.

No one had picked up this trail.

Jacob Black was beginning to get nervous. Jacob Black was beginning to get anxious. Jacob Black was beginning to get _scared._

"You…you sure you don't smell that?" he asked just one more time. He was praying that she'd left some freshly made sugar cookies out or sprayed some perfume.

She shook her head again and tilted her head, sniffing the air a few times. "No. Not at all."

He rubbed his forehead. "This can't be happening right now," he groaned. Jared, Sam, Quil and Paul had retired to go home an hour ago. They were probably in bed at this very moment. Leah and Seth were at their father's bedside in the hospital. Harry Clearwater had been recovering from a heart attack for a week now. Embry said that he was going to head over to The Garage and lock up for him. Jacob was on his break time at the moment, and was done his shift in a half hour.

So that meant that the youngest pack members, Brady and Collin, were manning the patrol shifts that night. And if he knew anything at all, the two young boys were very inexperienced and their noses weren't perfectly sharp yet—neither were their reflexes. If a leech came across them in the woods, both boys had a fairly good chance of being badly injured.

Lord knew what would happen if both wolves were separated, or attacked by more than one leech.

The smell was so strong at that very moment and it scared him so badly. He searched his mind for the voices of the young boys.

Brady! Collin! Are you there? Are you on the leech's trail?

There was still no answer.

Sam! Answer me! Jared, Paul, Embry? Quil?

Still nothing. He was completely alone tonight. And his wolf was chopping at the bit to escape his human skin and tear what ever it was apart into little pieces. Keeping Bella safe all at the same time was definitely another priority that he had at the top of his agenda of things running through his jumbled mind at the moment.

Thunder rumbled outside. Lightning flashed across the sky in bright streaks and rain began to pour down. It wasn't supposed to rain tonight.

Rain could easily mask the scent of a leech. "I've got to go," he said abruptly, jumping up and darting towards the door.

She tried not to pout. "You…um, didn't finish your soup."

The scent was getting less and less and he wanted to track it down and shred it apart for coming so close to Bella's house. "I have to go," he murmured.

He opened the door and was prepared to dart out into the cold. But a soft voice stopped him in his tracks. "Please don't."

He spun around and marched right to her, grabbing her face in his huge hands and cradling her chin with palm. "Bella, oh sunshine…there's so many things I wanna tell you. So many things I wish you knew. You gotta be safe, you hear me? I gotta protect from those things—those bears—and even myself. I've even got secrets myself, sunshine."

She shook her head, her lashes beating wildly as she tried to find the right words to say. "I-I…I don't understand." Then her small hands wrapped around his wrists and felt his heated skin. "You can tell me anything."

He broke away from her and walked away slightly, his hands tugging at his hair desperately. "I wish I could explain, but I literally can't." The scent was strong again. He had to go quickly. "Be safe, you hear me?"

Then he darted out the door, whispering something so softly and subconscious that she barely caught it. And he ran so fast down that wet porch-step that she didn't have enough time to reciprocate his words. "Jacob!"

He was gone, disappeared into the night. So she stood breathless on the porch, his name dying on her lips, his words still rotating in the back of her mind. A strong gust of wind shoved her forcefully backwards.

Out somewhere in the woods, a lone wolf's cry could be heard echoing through the forest. She backed up near the door and grasped the handle behind her.

"Love you too."

**0o0o0o0o**

**Sooooo? What did you think of this chapter? It's a lot being thrown at you, but I really want to know what you thought about Jacob's secret and those unheard words!**

_**To whom it may concern: if you nominated me for the non-canon awards, fess up in the review section. I'm so excited. I love you all so much!**_

**Courtney xx**


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note: Thanks for all the lovely reviews! You are all so amazing-it's your encouragement that drives me to work my butt faster! (:**

**Chapter Eight:  
**

Since he'd left her four days ago, Bella had been both bored and worried out of her mind. Where was he? Was he all right? He'd run off into the middle of a storm and she didn't know what to think or expect of that. She did everything possible to keep from getting worried.

She watched Titanic three times, The Notebook twice, and sat down to watch a whole TV season of Gossip Girl in one day. She cleaned her whole house until everything was sparkling. She dusted things, vacuumed places she'd never vacuumed and even washed her windows.

She drew some and painted on the second day he was gone, making an elaborate meal with the duck she'd bought from the grocery store for one.

On the third day she took it upon herself to do some service to her old red truck. She spent two hours washing it in 80-degree weather, earning herself a bit of sunburn on her cheeks.

It was the fourth day, and she'd just got in from harvesting some things from her garden. She was still puzzled as to why he hadn't visited. Her heart no longer felt whole without him—it was slowly deflating like a hot air balloon that had been punctured by a bullet hole.

It was the kind of day where she could have really gone for some tea. She took off her straw hat and gardening gloves, setting them on the table before rushing to her pot of tea bags. She opened the china lid to find the whole entire pot to be empty. Bella groaned loudly. "Damn."

She opened another cabinet to find her honey jar almost empty as well. How could she not have noticed? It looked like she had to go back to Barb and Frank's shop. Barbara was the woman that lived on the Res that she went to get her tea and honey from. Right now she was in desperate need of a soothing cup of tea.

She grabbed her sunglasses and keys before heading out the door. A quick trip to Barb's wouldn't hurt at all. She wore a pinkish-orange flannel short-sleeved shirt tucked into khaki shorts and black flats. She didn't care about what her hair looked like that morning—it was thrown into a messy French braid with wisps of hair blowing out in odd directions.

The truck seats burned the backs of her thighs due to the heat that was streaming in through the windshield. She shoved her keys into the ignition of her truck and quickly blasted up the air conditioning.

She sat for a moment in her truck, letting the air cool off her heated skin. The engine hummed beneath her as she backed out of the driveway slowly. She was pleased to find that the engine was still running smoothly after Jacob had fixed it.

She smiled as she remembered the time that she visited him at The Garage, laughing at the memories of her wearing that ridiculous sundress and heels and then tripping for the _fifth_ time that day—and it was into his arms that time.

God, she really needed that tea.

She punched on the radio and was surprised to hear Mott the Hoople screaming how Billy rapped all night about his suicide. She turned the radio station. Hearing that just made her think of Jacob's sweet face, his sweat slicked skin and damp hair as he danced sensually with her in his dirty old garage to that _very same_ song.

"Dammit."

0o0o0o0o

The old woman handed her the box of tea bags with a friendly smile. "Is that enough green tea for you, dear?" Bella beamed at the woman.

"Yes, thank you so much. I've been dying for some of yours the whole afternoon." Bella stood inside the little shop, panting like a dog due to the lack of air conditioning.

"Will that be all?" Barbara asked, flinging her waist length gray-black hair over her shoulder.

"One jar of honey please," Bella told the woman, pulling her wallet out of her purse to fetch the money. Barb came back with a fresh jar of sweet, sticky honey from the backroom and set it on the counter.

Bella laid out eight dollars already, for she'd been buying the same things from Barb and Frank for so long that she'd memorized the prices. Barb put the items into a brown paper bag and handed it to her. "Have a good day, dear," she told Bella with one of those sweet old lady smiles.

"You too!" the small brunette waved back before exiting out the door. The day was clear and inviting as she padded down the wooden steps and onto the grassy front of the shop. But the sight before her made her gasp.

Nine tall, copper-skinned men stood in a group near some Quileute Restaurant, chatting and goofing off. They all had the same tribal tattoo on their right arms and were all apparently into wearing cutoff shorts and being shirtless.

She scanned them all to see if Jacob was there. She couldn't pick him out. Without their faces showing, it was pretty much next to impossible to tell them all apart. A strong breeze blew her scent right over to the pack, and she noticed that all nine of their heads turned in her direction at the exact same moment.

One member was pretty beat up, with a sling on his arm, cuts and bruises peppering his body, and a black eye. He seemingly rushed at her, with the arms of two other guys restraining him. One she recognized as Quil, and the other she predicted to be Sam, for he was the tallest and most serious looking. Sam whispered things to Jacob, which seemed to be making him more upset.

She glanced back to the injured one, squinting her eyes to narrow in on his features to see if she could catch something that could make a light bulb of recognition go off inside of her head. His eyes were large and his body shaking at the sight of her.

That light bulb flicked on. She was so excited to see him that she couldn't contain herself. "Jacob!" she called. His fighting got worse and soon Quil and Sam could barely hold on to him.

She rushed down to greet him happily, but a huge body stepped in the way and thus blocked her sight of him. She looked up to see Embry. He took her softly by the shoulders and pulled her away from Jacob. "Hey loca," he greeted softly. Bella tried to see around him, but it was no use. She tried not to pout as Embry dragged her farther away.

"Listen," he murmured. "Jake is going through a rough patch right now. He needs to be alone. He's pretty unstable and his temper's unpredictable. And, he uh, has got a fever. We don't want you catching it."

She frowned. "He didn't look feverish. He looked hurt. What happened to him, huh? Did the bears get him?"

Embry chuckled and shook his head. "No, of course not. He got in a fight."

"Embry!" Jacob called.

The lanky man's face turned slightly red as he scratched the back of his neck in nervousness. "So I'll see you around then?" he poked, trying to get her to leave before Jake got too worked up.

Bella sighed. "Yeah. But can't I say hello to Jacob first?"

Embry looked kind of upset and empathetic. "I don't know if that's such a good ide—" His sentence was cut off when he was shoved hard to the left by a really pissed off Jacob. He watched Embry hit the ground with hellfire in his eyes before turning to Bella, looking really relieved.

He pulled her close and embraced her tightly with his uninjured arm. She was surprised, but she hugged him back, her short arms trying their hardest to wrap themselves fully around his huge torso.

She watched over his shoulder as the other guys came rushing over to the scene. One helped Embry up while the others watched in awe as Jacob displayed the most emotion they'd ever seen. He pulled back, being pretty oblivious to the other guys gawking at him from behind. "God, I missed you," he whispered.

Bella nodded helplessly. "Me too," she replied softly. "Where did you go? Why didn't you visit in the last four days?" Then she looked him up and down, taking in the sight of his beat up body. "And what the _hell_ happened to you?"

He sighed, his eyes closing for a brief moment as he took a deep breath through his nose, inhaling her soothing scent. "It sure is a long story, sunshine," he murmured, giving her one of his sunny, sweet smiles that she'd not seen in ages…or so it felt.

She clutched the brown paper bag filled with tea bags and a jar of honey just a little bit tighter. She gestured to his injuries. "Do they hurt?" she asked him with genuine concern, her brows furrowing together. He shook his head and chuckled softly. "You have guts," she laughed. "I would probably be crying right now if I was beat up as badly as you are."

"No," he almost cooed. The guys behind him gasped, their eyes growing wide. His healthy hand went up and cupped her chin tenderly, his thumb tracing the bottom of her jaw. "You could surely take on these injuries like they're no problem. You look like the kind of girl who could take it."

She shook her head, messy wisps of hair falling from her unkempt braid and into her face. "Like I looked like the kind of girl who brings people happiness?" she asked, repeating the sentence that he spoke to her the first time they'd ever met.

"Exactly!" he exclaimed, laughing a little. He gazed at her adoringly. "Look at me, sunshine. Look what you do to me. I was feeling like complete shit just moments before I saw you. You've got that magic glow, I'm telling you."

The guys gasped again, and began whispering to each other. Jacob ignored them all with pride. "I've no glow, Jacob Black," she grinned. "I'm just…the plain girl who lives alone in her house, drinks tea a lot, falls about four times a day and works the night shift at a bar. Nothing about that glows."

He shook his head, his hair falling into his eyes. "Absolutely crazy is what you are. You're the most interesting and _glowing_ person I've ever met. You're forgetful and clumsy—you called me Jim after I told you my name twice, and tripped over a pebble in The Garage, falling for the _fifth_ time that day. But you're also beautiful, smart, and…dare I say it? Awesome at mud fights and showering in the rain. I've never met anyone like you."

She was taken aback at such kind words. She huffed in shock. "Jeez. I've never met anyone like you either, Jacob-not-Jim." He laughed, the other guys surrounding him joining in softly.

0o0o0o0o

Paul turned to Embry slowly. "I didn't think you actually were telling truth when you said that this white chick really changed him."

Embry nodded his head at his pack brother triumphantly. "Since when am I a liar, Lahote? I'm the most honest pack member. The rest of you mutts can't go a die without telling a little lie."

"I haven't seen him like that in years though," Jared admitted. "Their connection seems crazy strong. Maybe stronger than me and Kim's."

Paul nudged Jared in the side with his elbow. "I doubt it. You and Kim are pretty hardcore," he laughed. Jared rolled his eyes.

"Jared's right," Sam's powerful voice cut all the joking around quickly. "I think I might have made a mistake. His wolf had been so unstable the night of the attack. I thought him seeing Bella would put her in danger, but really it's upset the wolf more. I'm not gonna keep him away from her anymore."

People walking by the guys took a moment to stop and stare, small crowds forming and watching the interaction between the native local and the paleface play out. The truth was that most people on the Res despised Sam's pack. Of course they had no idea about the secret—the wolfy secret.

The matching tattoos and going everywhere together led the townspeople to believe that Sam led some sort of gang. After all, each member had dropped out of school early to fulfill duties around the Res and that wasn't a good image in the back of the skeptical locals' minds, even though they didn't have a clue about the story behind it.

They paraded around the most populated bits of town half naked and with a swagger that told everyone "back up or get beat up". The townspeople hated that the 'Uley group' supposedly thought themselves superiors to everyone else living there. They showed off by cliff diving, performing crazy stunts, and holding parties at First Beach approved by the council members every other weekend or so.

And no one could understand why the Uley group was so loved and protected by the council when everybody else could clearly see that those boys weren't good influences on their peers and were obvious troublemakers.

So seeing one of the most loved and hated guys on the Res talking to an innocent looking paleface that they saw as a regular at Barb and Frank's was kind of surprising. Jacob was known around as a player, having a new girlfriend every two weeks or so.

With his good looks, height and muscle mass, he could score and drop any girl he wanted, no matter what their names and titles were. Every girl wanted Jacob Black, and every guy hated him for it.

Some shook their heads in disproval of the sweet Bella's relationship with the badboy Jacob. Some thought that Bella could change the badboy for the better. Some thought that Jacob would use her and be done and finished with her in just a few days.

It was hard for the townspeople to tell, but it was crystal clear in the back of the pack members' minds.

0o0o0o0o

Bella's truck had never been so packed with testosterone in all of its years. Jacob had invited her back to Emily and Sam's house for some snacks and it just so turned out that none of the guys had a way back. (They were going to run down in wolf form, but now that she was invited, they had to take the human way.)

Sam sat up in the front seats with her to lead the way to his house with Quil, Embry and Jacob packed in the backseats. Paul, Jared, Seth, Brady and Collin huddled in the cargo-part of her pick up truck, or _the trunk, _as she liked to call it.

The truck went over a bump in the road and the guys in the trunk whooped in surprise and amusement. Sam rolled his eyes and pointed to the little wooden cabin in the clearing. They lived pretty deep into the woods, and it would have been next to impossible finding it without his help.

She rolled into their driveway and she found that the guys were hopping out of the back without her having even shut off the engine. _Dangerous_, she thought, shaking her head in disapproval.

Jacob and the other guys lumbered out of the backseats of her truck, Quil and Embry running to catch up with the others. Jacob lingered behind, waiting for her to catch up. She greeted him with a smile and he draped his good arm around her shoulders.

"Is this the Emily you told me about?" she questioned, turning her head slightly to look up at him. He nodded down at her. Bella helped him up the stairs, letting him lean on her when he needed it.

"You'll like her," he told her. "She's been dying to meet you." Just as they were about to enter the door, Jacob grabbed her arm and pulled her aside.

"What?" she asked, kind of surprised.

"About Emily, Sam's fiancée…don't stare. It bugs Sam." Jacob told her. She nodded her head, fumbling fingers wiping sweaty tendrils of hair out of her eyes.

"Okay," she murmured. "But why would I stare?" Jacob just nodded his head towards the door, not saying a word.

So she just followed him into the little cabin to where the other wolves sat around a large wooden table. Two women and a small child stood by the entrance to the kitchen, gazing out at the hungry band of guys wolfing down their previously made lunch.

The little one noticed Jacob standing by the door and instantly began to screech his name. "Uncle Jay!" the girl called, wrenching herself out of the shorter woman's hand.

The black haired girl came over to him and wrapped her small, chubby arms around Jacob's legs. "Hey honey," he laughed, ruffling her messy black hair.

"Pick me up!" the child cried, reaching up to him. "Uncle Jay, up!"

Quil swooped over and scooped the child up into his arms, peppering her face with kisses. "Claire-bear, you didn't even say hi to me today. Do you love me less?"

The little girl giggled and kicked her feet. "I love you, Quilly. I love you most-est."

Bella looked up at Jacob and smiled. The two women approached Bella excitedly. "Hi, I'm Kim." The shorter woman said, sticking out her hand for Bella to shake. She took Kim's hand and smiled.

Jared's girlfriend Kim was plain like she was, with long brown hair pulled into a ponytail that reached her lower back and deep brown eyes. But she had a radiating and wide, white-toothed smile that could captivate anyone.

"And I'm Emily," the taller one said, bring Bella in for a hug. She gasped at the sight of the older woman's face, but her gasp was luckily inaudible to Emily's ears. She pulled back and smiled, the three long scars on the right side of her once-beautiful face. It pulled down the corner of her eye and mouth. "It's so nice to finally meet you. We've been hearing such great things from Jacob, here."

Kim giggled when Bella's face turned bright red. "Ah, yes. We hear he calls you sunshine. How sweet! I wish Jared would call me something like that."

"Oh c'mon, don't you like the one I gave you, Kimmy Bear?" Jared cooed from the table, stretching his arms out for her. Kim just laughed and turned back to Bella.

"See what I mean? He's relentless. I hate being called Kimmy," the young woman said.

Bella looked back up at Jacob, only to notice that he'd disappeared from his place beside her to his place at Emily's table beside Sam and Embry. Quil was still cradling Claire in his arms, tickling and kissing her.

"Listen sweetie, did you want something to eat? Kim and I spent hours slaving over this lunch, and I don't know about you, but we're awful hungry." Emily smiled, the scars on her face crinkling as she did.

Bella nodded her head and Kim tugged her into the kitchen after the other woman. Emily's countertops were packed with food. Hotdogs, bowls of soup, a huge bowl of chips, muffins, and a whole new case of coca-colas. On the other side was apparently Kim's section of pastries—tarts, and cookies and a giant fudge chocolate cake topped with even more chocolate fudge.

Bella's stomach growled. Screw the warm cup of tea that she'd wanted; she craved some Res style lunch. She grabbed a hotdog and instantly began to chew. "Delicious," she murmured.

"So," Kim began with a sly smile on her face. "How do you like dating one of our specialty guys? It took me a while to adjust to Jared's crazy schedule, but I got used to it eventually."

Bella shrugged. "I don't know if we're dating…" she murmured, casting her eyes to the floor.

Emily nervously shot a look at Kim, but the other woman didn't see her warning. "Well, obviously he's imprinted on you and told you if he's brought you here already."

Bella stopped chewing on the hotdog and looked up. "Told me what? And what's imprinting?"

Both women silenced. "She doesn't know," Emily whispered into Kim's ear harshly. Kim turned back to Emily.

"But he's imprinted! When is he going to tell her? I thought he must have already told her. No one brings imprints around to your house when they don't know."

"For God's sake Kim, she tried to shoot his wolf. She's not quite ready yet."

Meanwhile, Bella just stood and watched the two women intensely whisper things inaudible to her ears. What were they talking about? What did she not know?

0o0o0o0o

**Jacob Black is standing in front of you, pressing you to his hot body and whispering hotly into your ear to review. Reviews turn him on. He is **_**shameless.**_


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note: Thanks for all the amazing reviews last time. You all are truly amazing. This is my way of giving you all my gift, since I will be getting many for my birthday on Saturday. I want to thank those who wished me a happy birthday already! Kisses!**

**Recommended Listening: The Blower's Daughter by Damien Rice**

**Chapter Nine:**

Ever since the kitchen scene with Kim, Bella had been wondering about what imprinting was. And what Jacob should have told her. She followed the guys out back to watch them all play a game of football. Emily drug out three porch chairs with surprising strength even though she was a dainty, but heavily pregnant woman.

So she sat in her chair, squished between Emily, who was trying to get comfortable with her big belly jutting out in front of her, and Kim, who ogled over Jared's every move. Bella lay still in her chair, extremely uncomfortable and hot.

Kim had lent her a pair of ridiculous black sunglasses, on which she insisted upon Bella wearing. Quil had called her a 'waterbug', or whatever the hell that was, due to the fact that the sunglasses magnified her big brown eyes and made them even bigger.

Bella's waterbug eyes followed Jacob's every move as his perfectly carved body twisted and turned ever so slightly in order to catch the football and toss it hard with his good arm to the other opponent. "Beautiful, isn't he Bella?" Kim asked.

She nodded wordlessly and turned her head towards the other woman. "Sure is," she said, her voice in a flat sort of tone, her eyes greedily taking in the sight of Jacob's washboard abs so hard that they looked like they could grate cheese. Holy _crow_.

"I was talking about Jared, not Jacob," Kim huffed, like it was something that Bella was supposed to know. She rolled her eyes under Kim's waterbug glasses. "Jared's so…so perfect! I almost can't take it."

Bella looked over at Emily, who was tugging at the loose sundress that lay draped over her belly. "Don't worry about Kim," she whispered to the small brunette. "She's been a little Jared-crazy lately. I find it quite funny, actually. He might propose soon."

Bella pushed the sunglasses up onto her forehead. "Really?" she asked. "Good for both of them."

Emily gave a half smile. "Don't tell Kim, alright? I don't quite know how she'd take it yet. She's been waiting for so long, she's probably explode and we'd be cleaning tiny bits of Kim off of the walls for hours."

They both began to crack up, drawing the attention of Kim aside of her. "What are you two hens cackling about? Let a girl in on a secret?"

Emily just gave Kim a small smile. "You'd be happy to keep it a secret until the time's right, hon." The older woman told her.

Bella watched as Jacob threw the ball in for a touchdown with his uninjured arm. It was the touchdown that won the game against Sam's. Embry, Quil, Seth and Brady whooped in excitement while Paul, Jared, Collin and Sam sulked like sore-losers in the corner. Well, everyone sulked except Sam because he was old enough to know better than to do that. Plus, his fiancée and unborn child were watching him.

Paul cursed at Jacob's team, calling them cheaters. "Oh come on Paul," Quil taunted. "You're just pissed that one-armed Jake beat your ass in football like you were a five year old."

Lahote's face got bright red and he charged at Quil with his fist raised up in the air until Jacob intervened and shoved Paul with his good hand hard in the chest. "Man up, Lahote. If Rach was here, she would have slapped you."

At the mention of his girlfriend and imprintee, Paul instantly softened. "Whatever, man." He walked away, leaving Jacob to laugh with his friends.

He noticed her sitting awkwardly between the two women that were trying their hardest to make her feel at home and smiled. Emily could be pushy, and Kim could get quite annoying. He walked over to her and offered her his free hand.

She took it, her face turning a bit red. Emily bit her lip and Kim scowled at Jared for not being sweet like that to her too. "C'mon," Jacob whispered softly, guiding her a little bit deeper into the forest. "I want to show you something."

So she followed him into the forest, Sam's watchful eye following their every movement. His wolf had to stay stable. Jacob grasped her hand tightly, the warmth seeping from his skin to hers. She gasped and looked up at him. He chuckled. "I'm hot, I know."

She laughed and rolled her eyes. "I don't know about that so much, there Jacob."

He gave her a look of mock sadness. "Sure, sure."

She beamed at him. "So…where are we going? To a secret hideout in the woods?"

"Something like that," he admitted to her, with a mysterious sparkle in his eye. "I think you'll like it." Jacob tugged her around a bend in the forest and over a log. "This forest is full of wonders that I doubt you've already seen."

"What are you, a land surveyor?" Bella laughed.

He shrugged his shoulders. "I could be."

She was yanked around another corner and over a few rocks. "What have you got up your sleeve?"

He waggled an eyebrow at her and gave her a perfect little lopsided smile. "You'll have to wait and see. Hold my hand real tight and close your eyes. I want it to be a surprise."

0o0o0o0o

"No, no, not again. I can't do this again. If I come back like that, they'll wonder what the hell we've been doing in the forest." Her skin prickled at the thought.

He was in the water, his injured arm laying limp in the now wet sling. Bella didn't exactly know where he'd brought her, but it was clear she'd never been there before. She'd lived in Forks for a few years, since her junior year in high school.

The little body of water was surrounded by lush vegetation, bright wildflowers and odd vines coming from a large tree shadowing the stream from the bright, hot beams of sunlight. He sat at the edge of the pond, stripped down to only his black boxers. "Can't have my cutoffs getting all dirty like last time. Mud stains are a bitch," he'd said.

"The more clothes you take off, the less obvious it will be that you went swimming with me here, don't you think?" he hinted. She looked taken aback at his crude words and Jacob instantly regretted saying them. "I didn't mean that in a sexual way."

She shook her head and began to peel off her shirt. "Oh, I think you did." Jacob's eyes were blown wide. "Please don't look." He averted his eyes while she stripped down into her underwear. He heard the splash of water and calm waves wash over his skin as she moved closer to him.

He could feel her breath on his skin as dainty, chilled fingers laid themselves on heated muscles. He cracked an eye open, and saw her nod. So he opened his eyes all the way and drank her in.

This time she wore a green leafy bra and matching panties. Her French braid reminded him of the muddy braids she wore during their mud fight in the creek. She gasped when she sank into the water a little when his grip tightened. "Jake!" she cried out, gasping for him.

He grasped her under the arms and picked her up like a child, bringing her closer. "Shh. I've got you. Why are you freaking out?" She pawed at his chest, trying to climb up him.

He grinned. He'd let her climb up his body another time, but now he was fascinated in why she was panicking in the water.

"You'll laugh if I tell you," she whispered to him, pressing her tiny body closer to his for heat.

He raised an eyebrow. Now he was really interested in what she had to say. "I promise I won't laugh."

She glanced up at him. "I can't swim." He snorted and broke into a badly contained laugh. She groaned. "Aw, you promised!"

He reigned himself in, remembering the measly promise that he made to her. "Didn't you tell me you moved here from Arizona? Isn't it supposed to be crazy hot there? If I would have been you back there, I would have been in a pool probably twenty-four-seven."

She clung onto him tighter. "I knew how to swim, but I forgot how to. It's been years since I last swam. Probably about fourteen. I was five when I almost drowned in my aunt's swimming pool. Not a good experience, I'll tell you."

"I'll hold you then," he murmured, holding out his free arm, his injured one hanging in the sling at his side.

"You're crazy," she laughed. "You're injured. You broke your arm. I'd probably break your good arm. I'm heavy."

Jacob snorted and rolled his eyes. "You're insulting my strength by saying that I can't lift you. You're a shrimp, sunshine."

"Okay. I can believe that."

He held her in his free arm, the arm long enough to curl along her bottom, the arm long enough that she could practically ride like a swing. Her legs instinctively came up and wrapped themselves around his waist. "Good. Relax a little. You're as stiff as a pole."

"You'll drop me," she worried. "I don't like—"

His hands moved her legs out and pushed her flat into his arms, molding her like a Barbie doll until she was in his "arm" and he was cradling her like a baby. "See? I've got you. Won't let you go. The water's carrying you as much as I am."

She clung to him tightly, waiting for the moment when he'd drop her and laugh. But the moment never came, and it wouldn't come. He caught her staring at his lips as he moved around in the water, twirling her round.

She threw her head back and giggled, kicking her feet in the water. "Jake—Jacob! It's cold, that water's cold."

He hugged her tighter to his body and watched as her lips curved up into a small smile at the comfort of his warmth. Then he paused, as he felt her hands slithering up the length of his neck.

Small fingers touched sizzling hot lips.

Jacob placed a tender kiss on her finger and then moved his mouth downward to kiss her wet hand. He continued to make a path of kisses up her forearm and stopped at the crook of her arm, looking down at her with a lustful look in his eyes.

She scrambled out of his arms, resting her feet on the muddy bottom of the little pond, pushing wisps of wet hair out of her eyes. Instantly he felt like a chunk of flesh had been ripped from his bones when she moved away from him. He lunged for her slightly, but she moved away just in time.

He became frustrated. His wolf wanted her so badly, and yet she wouldn't even let him kiss her. "Why do you run?"

She whirled around, her hair blowing into her face. "Run?" she asked. "It's an instinct. I'm…I'm sorry."

He softened instantly. "Give in to what you want."

In one step he was at her side, his hands coming up to grasp her waist. Before she could object or God forbid run, his lips captured hers. Her hands instinctively wrapped around his neck to try and yank him off of her, but the action of her small fingers tugging at his wet hair gave him the wrong idea.

He saw the action as passion.

Jacob deepened the kiss, pushing his tongue inside of her mouth, loving the way her tiny body tensed as the pressure increased. Bella's eyes widened at the pleasure she felt coursing through her veins when he kissed her, rubbing up against him to get more of this crazy feeling.

A moan slipped from her mouth, and suddenly it became evidently clear to Bella that kissing him was right, so perfectly right. It was like their lips were meant to mold together. She'd never felt so alive as when with him, that perfectly mysterious guy that she'd met when she'd stupidly smashed him with her truck only weeks before.

Bella Swan, the despiser of all men out there, had decided that she would like this Jacob. And she decided that she would like his kisses too.

It was funny, really—she thought of how when with guys she'd known for years and years she wasn't really all that comfortable. And yet this Jacob Black fooled her heart and mind into thinking she'd known him since birth, when the reality was that she only knew him for a month.

So as she kissed him, she swore that their heartbeats were one, beating for each other at a rhythmic pace. Another knee-buckling electric shock of pleasure coursed through her veins like hellfire when his tongue danced against hers again, hot lips mashing against her own.

The sensation of his zealous breath drove a shiver through her already weakened body and she placed a hand on his shoulder to prevent herself from swooning under his heat, lust, and sheer passion.

Her whole world fell apart when he pulled away to catch his breath. The growing ache in his pants had reached its near peak and if she drove him any further, he figured that he probably wouldn't be able to stand it.

With one single touch, or once shy glance, that girl was able to do things to him that not even the most beautiful model in the world could.

"We should go back," she said in a breathy voice, the mood ruined by the sudden goosebumps pricking up all over her flesh. "I'm really cold."

He nodded. "Yeah. Before they get suspicious." Then he added, "Good idea."

0o0o0o0o

Emily and Kim were still sitting at their chairs when they noticed the two drenched young people exiting the forest. Kim glanced at Emily, who shrugged. It hadn't rained, so why were they soaking wet? What had they been doing in the forest?

"I wonder if they had sex," Kim pondered aloud.

"It's really quite possible. She looks flustered." Emily replied.

"I wouldn't be surprised. I mean, it_ is_ Jacob we're talking about here," the smaller woman giggled. "I only hope that he doesn't use her like the others."

Emily looked over at Kim. "Me too. Except I don't know if he's imprinted. He's pretty good at hiding his emotions around us, you know," she said. "Sam won't tell me anything about Jacob. This is probably the most emotional I've seen him. He's never worn a happy grin like that around us."

Kim nodded in affirmation. "True. I thought he hated us all at first."

The two women watched as all heads swiveled in Bella and Jake's direction. Quil's jaw plummeted to the floor, Paul grinned like the sly bastard he was, and the football just casually fell out of Embry's freakishly large hands.

"Oh yeah," Emily whispered. "Those two young lovers definitely did something out there."

0o0o0o0o

Bella watched as every single one of their eyes landed on her. She'd slipped back on her pink flannel shirt and khaki shorts, but it didn't do much to hide her wetted under garments and sopping wet braid. She was absolutely horrified.

Quil's mouth fell open in surprise, his jaw practically hitting the ground. Paul smirked and laughed with Jared, making sexual jokes at the both of them. Brady and Collin blushed like mad fools, not used to seeing such a beautiful older girl in such a condition at their age. Embry dropped the football in pure astonishment and shock. Sam rubbed his temples awkwardly, and Seth tried hard not to drool.

She could already feel the tears sneaking out of the corners of her eyes. "Jake," she whimpered, glancing up at her. At the sight of her sparkly eyes, he rushed to her aid, protecting her with his own body.

"Cut it out," he snapped. "All of you! It's not like you've never seen a woman in wet clothes before."

Paul and Jared snickered again, causing Jacob to growl in their direction. Bella rushed to her truck. "I'll see you soon, Bella!" Emily called.

Bella did not turn around.

0o0o0o0o

"You do realize that this is your fault, right?" she asked him, drying off her hair with her towel. "I wouldn't have been in this mess if it you wouldn't have persuaded me into that pond."

He sat on her porch in nothing but his cutoffs and his skin. "I don't regret it in the least," he murmured. "I hope you don't either."

She grabbed the big plastic bucket of pretzel bits and stepped outside. He looked up at her and chuckled. She looked kind of funny with her tiny arms hugging a jug of pretzel bits to her chest like that.

She sat down in the wooden porch chair next to him and smiled crookedly, making a funny face at him. He chuckled. She looked back out towards the tree-line before her house, peeling off the plastic lid of the pretzels. She dug her hand into them, selecting one with her dainty fingers. "Ah. I got a little one," she pondered aloud. Then she looked his way. "You want one too?"

He shook his head and gave her a half grin. "I told ya that I'm a chip guy, sunshine."

Bella nodded her head, her unruly, damp hair falling into her eyes. "Ri-ight. I forget things so easily, Mr. Black. Sometimes I even need to write things down so I don't forget them. Say you'd be allergic to strawberries and you're lactose intolerant. Knowing me, I'd probably forget that and make you a strawberry jell-o cake with whipped cream icing."

Jacob grinned, and then began to laugh at her stab at a joke. "You don't seem like the kind of person to be so forgetful…or clumsy."

She popped the pretzel inside of her mouth and began to chew, the crunching noise loud in his sensitive ears. "Well you thought wrong, sir. I am both of those things all the way."

"Sure, sure. I believe you."

She stuck her hand in the bucket of pretzels and shot him a sideways glance. "Hey, can I ask you something?"

He nodded. "Ask away, Ms. Swan."

"What's imprinting?"

He froze. How did she know that word? Why was she asking him? Did someone tell her something? "Why do you ask?"

She shrugged her shoulders and swallowed a bit. "I dunno. Kim mentioned it when I was in the kitchen with Emily, and I didn't know what it meant. Then she wouldn't tell me. So I decided to ask you…if that's alright."

He tensed up, the muscles in his shoulders bunching up. He hadn't realized that when he'd heard Emily and Kim talking about imprinting in the kitchen, Bella was there too. "It's really stupid. It's some shitty Res myth."

She sighed. "Tell me anyways? We've got nothing better to do."

"I could think of some things," he hinted at her.

"Please," she begged. "I want to know."

With those pretty doe eyes and her sweet begging voice, he couldn't resist. So with a sigh, he gave in. "They said that when a guy sees the girl of his dreams, something funny happens to him."

Bella gave him a disgusted look. "Yeah, I know. Boners. Do I even want to know what this imprinting thing is anymore, or are you just trying to kid me?"

Jacob's face went bright red. "No, Bella—Jesus, I wasn't talking about boners. Imprinting is like…when you see her, everything changes. All of the sudden it's not gravity holding you to the planet. It's her. Nothing, absolutely nothing else matters. You would do anything, be anything for her. A brother. A friend. A protector." Then in a husky voice, he averts his eyes from the ground to make heated eye contact with her. "A lover. He's eternally bound to her forever. He will never love another like he loves her. He virtually…can't…live without her."

She had to shake her shivers away. "Wow. This sounds so cool, and so not stupid like you said it was. And Jake?"

"Yeah?"

"It sounds like you know the feeling."

Jacob stared at the ground, the passing breeze rustling the lush tree's leaves overhead. "I might." He grinned a little grin, his perfectly chiseled jaw prominent. Then, by the time another warm breeze came, his smile was wiped from his face. "But it's only a myth, sunshine."

Her lips drooped at the corners. "I know. I wish it wasn't, though."

Jacob looked over at her. "What if it was true? What would you think if I had imprinted on you?"

Her hand stalled in the bucket of pretzels. "I would think that's totally rad. I mean, I would say thank you."

His eyebrows jumped up. "_Thank you_? Why thank you?"

She set the bucket of pretzels aside. "I'd say…thank you for choosing me. Loving me when nobody else was willing. And being there for when I needed a friend."

He looked over at her with his widened eyes and fast paced heart, pumping hot blood through his veins and arteries. "I…"

"Want some lemonade?" she cut him off, her face turning a pinkish-red color. "I made some today, and it's getting really hot out here."

Jacob watched as Bella disappeared into the house. She had no idea about imprinting or anything of that sort, but for some odd reason, she seemed like she already knew everything she needed to know.

**0o0o0o0o**

**Jacob Black takes your hand and leads you into the forest. He wants to make a deal with you. If you review, he'll take you swimming. He'll strip down to next to nothing in front of you, carry you in his uninjured arm and give you one mind blowing makeout session that will make your knees wobble and your hands quake. He is a **_**sex demon.**_** He is **_**shameless.**_


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note: Thanks for reviewing, everyone! There's a lot being thrown at you in this chapter, and I apologize for *possibly* overwhelming you, if I even do at all. Enjoy, my lovely readers.**

**VOTING for Sunshine is now available on thenon-canonawards . blogspot . com! Have a vote! (: **

**Chapter Ten:**

The dew was forming on the grass early that morning. Bella, clad in only her nightgown, pushed open her bedroom balcony doors and stepped out onto the little platform. The morning breeze both chilled and kissed her skin, the wind's fingers raking through her hair. She placed her hands on the balcony railing and felt the wind between her open legs.

Out of the corner of her eye, Bella caught something out of the corner of her eye, a flash of golden hair. She looked down. There was a child standing out in the grass in a blue lacy frock. As Bella squinted her eyes, she saw that the child's eyes were blood red. _Probably contacts, _she thought._ But why would a child have red contacts?_

The blonde-haired child waved and smiled a beautiful smile. The kid was beautiful, she had to admit. So Bella smiled back and waved. "Are you lost?" Bella called. The child nodded her head. "Did you lose your mommy?" Another nod.

The child danced around in her backyard. "I need help, pretty lady. Fancy doing me a favor and coming down here?"

Bella splayed her palms on the railing and took a deep breath. "Of course." She bound down the bedroom stairs and to her backyard. The child was twirling around in the backyard, seeming to not notice her presence. When a breeze swept through again, the girl lifted her little nose into the air and her head snapped towards Bella.

The child skipped over to Bella with a creepy little crooked smile on her face. "You smell funny. Like _wolf-dog._" She took another whiff of Bella's scent. "And good. You smell real good, pretty lady."

Bella blushed. She didn't have a dog. "What's your mom's phone number, sweetie?" she asked. The child shrugged nonchalantly.

"Mommy's been lost for years and years," she giggled. "Play with me!" Grabbing Bella's wrist with her stone-cold grip, she dragged her out into the backyard.

And Bella couldn't exactly say no, because she couldn't drag her arm out of the child's grasp. It was near impossible, and she was surprised at the child's sheer strength. "What do you mean your mommy's been lost for years?"

The girl frowned. "Let's play hide and seek." The girl forced Bella's hands over her eyes. "I hide," she whispered. "You seek."

As if her hands were glued over her eyes, Bella had no choice but to obey. She tried to yank her arms away, but it was like they were cemented in place.

"Count!" the child shrieked.

She couldn't say no, and she couldn't figure out why. It was like some creepy charm was being put over her. "One, two, three, four…"

She could hear the rustling footsteps around her as she sat idly in the grass, completely overtaken by this unseen force, making her do things that she didn't wish to do. "Smells good, pretty lady."

"Five…ugh! Six, seven, eight…" Bella struggled. It was no use.

She felt cold fingers on her neck, tracing a circle on her pulse point. Bella tried to shriek, but she couldn't. Nothing but numbers came out of her mouth. This child was completely controlling her.

Suddenly, the fingers were ripped away from her neck, sharp nails dragged down her arms, trying to hold on, and an ear-splitting shriek echoed throughout the air. It was then that she realized that she could rip her hands away from her eyes and stop counting.

A giant red-brown wolf had the struggling, red-eyed girl by the leg. She screamed and beat the wolf with her tiny white fists, but the wolf growled menacingly, switching its bite from her leg to wrapping its sharp-toothed jaw fully around the child's midsection and shaking her like a ragdoll. The child's red eyes rolled back into her head as the wolf dragged her further into the woods.

Bella was so shocked that she felt frozen to the ground, her arms covered in blood from where the girl's fingernails raked her skin. Another loud shriek echoed throughout the valley. And that was when she knew that the child had been killed by the wolf.

She couldn't make sense of it. The child with the red eyes seemed so evil, but the wolf killed it. If the child hadn't been evil, it would have been a terrible accident and the wolf would have been hunted down. The wolf was huge—bigger than any she'd ever seen before.

She was wet from the dew of the grass, her nightgown soaked from the back. She scrambled backwards into the safety of her own house, her arms, which were pretty gouged from the damned child's razor sharp claw-like fingernails.

Bella bled all over her kitchen, her knees weakened as she tried to grasp her pink cell phone from off the kitchen counter. God, she was losing a lot blood from these scratches. Finally, the cell phone was in her hand. She dialed the one person she trusted.

The phone rang, and it wasn't picked up. She began to freak out. "Please answer," her fingers slipped and slid across the phone, dialing the number again. "Jake, please."

She felt dizzy and sick all at the same time.

Everything was fading fast.

0o0o0o0o0o

When she came to, everything was kind of blurry. She felt hands shaking her shoulders, forcing her to look whoever it was straight in the eye. She blinked. His face was kind of blurry, but she recognized him anyways. "Em…Embry?"

The lanky young man turned and called for him. Bella faded out for a few seconds, but when she came back, she saw his face and smiled. It was a drunken, crooked looking smile, but it was a response. "Personal sun."

He let out a humorless, yet relieved breathy laugh. "Sunshine," he whispered. "You're all right." Jacob helped her sit up on the couch, Bella's weakened body slumping against his side. She tried to grasp him as she moved closer to him, but was dumbfounded when her hand just slid away.

She looked down at her arms, which were bandaged from her elbows to the tips of her fingers. It was funny. She didn't remember being that injured. "Jacob," she whined weakly. "Get these off of me. I'm…I'm okay."

She tried to stand, but was pushed back down by two sturdy hands. They belonged to Embry. "You gotta take it easy for a little bit, sun-fly. You actually lost a lot of blood. But you'll be alright."

She looked back down at her bandaged hands. "Can we at least peel them off of my fingers? I think I'll need those."

Jacob looked up at Embry, who blushed and began to peel the bandages off of her fingers. "I told you we didn't need those on her fingers," Jake chuckled.

Embry rolled his eyes. "Jesus. I'm sorry I'm not a nurse, or specially trained in the art of putting bandages on wounds."

Jacob chuckled at Embry's retort, but Bella wasn't all that amused. Her arms still hurt like a bitch, and she was pretty shaken about what happened. "Did you see it? Did you see it, Jacob?"

At the mention of his name, Jacob's face fell out of a smile and into a thin line. "See what, sunshine?"

"The wolf," she replied, eyes widened. "Did you see it? And the girl…did you see that little girl?"

Both Jacob and Embry gulped. "What girl, loca?" Embry asked her.

She waved her hands around in the air, blinking rapidly. "The girl with the long blonde hair and the pretty blue laced frock. She had eyes as red as blood and skin as cold and pale as ice."

Both men seemed to freeze. "Children can't have red eyes, Bella," Embry told her. "That's impossible."

"But it was real," she told them. "And the enormous wolf that was there…so was he. The wolf was a reddish brown color. The girl was hurting me, and using this unnatural force or invisible power to control what I did while I was still conscious."

Jacob's face turned bright red and he began to shake. His bones rippled beneath his skin. Embry slapped him hard on the back, seeming to calm him down. Jake shook his head as if trying to shake whatever wave of anger that washed over him far away.

"Tell me about this wolf," Jacob asked her.

"Well," she began. "The first time I saw the wolf, I was completely terrified. But this is the second time it's seen me and hasn't attacked me. Those eyes…they seem so alive and vivid—too much for an animal."

They both nodded. "That's different, isn't it?" Embry chuckled.

She frowned at him. "This is serious, Embry Call! The wolf dragged the girl out, and suddenly I felt at ease. It wasn't trying to hurt me as well, it was trying to help me. Save me, protect me from harm."

Jacob nodded his head, his big brown eyes filled with relief and concern. "I understand."

Bella relaxed against the couch, head hitting the pillows softly. "You probably think I'm crazy," she groaned. "If I were you, I'd be thinking the exact same thing. It's okay."

He shook his head quickly. "No, no. I don't think you're crazy…at all. I believe that you saw a wolf. There's wolves around here, no doubt."

"But this was no ordinary wolf!" she cut in, shaking her head. "I'm telling you, it was something completely different."

0o0o0o0o0o

Embry ended up leaving the Swan Residence shortly after Bella's attack due to the fact that he had to head back to Emily's and relay information to Sam about the bloodsucker. Jacob, however, stayed, because he couldn't bear the thought of leaving her again.

Even though the leech wouldn't return, he was still paranoid and on edge.

"I want you to know something," he blurted out. Jacob instantly regretted saying anything at all, but it was too late. It had already caught her attention and she was intrigued.

"Alright," she said, shrugging her shoulders. "Lay it on me then. I like being told secrets. It's rare that I get told a good something-something."

He shook his head. "It's not just a good 'something-something', sunshine," he half-scolded her. He turned his back and reached his arms up to grasp the back of his neck. "Have you ever had a secret you couldn't tell anyone? One that wasn't yours to share?"

She paused and pondered his question. "Well…no."

"Exactly," he said, exasperated. "Well that's what it's like for me, except ten times worse than you'd ever imagine a secret being. You have no idea how tight I'm bound. Saying or doing the wrong thing could expose us all."

She chewed her lip in thought. "What are you, a drug dealer?"

Jacob gave her a look, making her shut up instantly. "Bella, honey, I wish I could explain everything there was to you. I wish I didn't have to hide…"

"Then don't hide!" she exclaimed, flapping her bandaged wrists excitedly. "Don't hide from me, Jacob. I can take it. I'm here, I'm listening, and my mouth is zipped up and permanently locked. I threw away the key ages ago."

He rubbed his forehead apprehensively, big thumbs rubbing his throbbing temples. "I want to tell you all my secrets. I want to be open with you."

"Then be open," she begged him.

He shook his head. "I could write a book about all this shit that's happening to me right now," he chuckled darkly, shadowed eyes cast down at her hardwood floor.

She let out an excited little squeak. "That's a great idea. Write me a book and I'll put my lock on it. It'll be mine forever."

He crossed the room to her in one freakishly large step. With one finger hooked under her jaw, he lifted her face to meet his. "One day I'll write you a book about all my secrets." His eyes searched hers almost desperately. "Bella?"

She nuzzled into his warm hand, her chilled skin happily soaking in the heat. "Yeah?"

He gulped, and nodded his head curtly. "When I look into your eyes, I forget everything bad I've ever done. It's like none of my past really matters anymore. You have changed, and are still changing me in ways I never thought possible."

Her heart soared at his comment. "You too" was all she could think to say. Her eyes glistened with tears of adoration.

Jacob released his hold on her, his hand dropping away from her cheek. The lack of heat there instantly left her yearning for more of his sweet touch. He turned away, so his back was facing her. Sighing, he leaned against the wall for support. "I've done horrible things in my life," he laughed humorlessly. "You could call me the son of the devil and it wouldn't be that far from the truth. I was a good kid, but then something changed me. And something changed me again."

He looked at her, needing.

Wanting.

She listened intently, little fists balling up, heart pounding rapidly in her chest.

He cleared his throat and looked away again, staring at a portrait on a wall. "But the thing is, when I'm with you I feel surprisingly calm and at ease. You're the closest I'll ever be to heaven…so I'll enjoy you while I still can, sunshine."

She played with the edge of her nightgown nervously. She never did get dressed, she'd noticed, but she shrugged it off and looked back to him. "I felt so unloved—"

His eyes narrowed. "That's so far from the truth, it's not even funny."

She pursed her lips. "Well, you didn't quite let me finish my sentence," she whispered. He shut his mouth and leaned back against the wall, indicating that he was allowing her to speak. "I felt so unloved before I met you. But you changed me as well."

Jacob looked up at her, his eyes deep and intense.

Small fingers released the fabric of her nightgown that she found to be clutching too tight. He said nothing, lips parting as his eyes followed her fingers as they skirted across her milky white thigh. "Do you know what you're doing to me?"

She shook her head naively. He crossed the room once more in one stride, taking her face into his hands. "What are you doing?" she asked breathlessly, struggling out of his grasp.

His wolf was furious about the rejection and chomping at the bit to get out of human skin and to impress her in wolf form. But the human part of Jacob told his other half that that certainly wasn't a good idea.

With a gentle hand, he pulled her close again. "I hate when you resist me," he groaned. "I know you want me, so…why don't you just let it happen?" Her face turned red as she tried to say something. But her words were silenced with his lips.

Bella Swan froze with her arms stretched at her sides and her eyes as wide and unblinking as saucers. Sure, she'd kissed him before but she hadn't been kissed repeatedly by a love interest.

Why wasn't she moving? Why couldn't she move? She wanted to kiss him back so badly.

He broke away too soon, a big grin on his face. She smiled back tenderly and scratched the back of her neck. "I'll, um…have to work on that."

He wiped it off easily. "No biggie. We can practice later."

0o0o0o0o

He left shortly after the kiss, and she was left bored for hours until she had to go to work…which was where she was at right now. The dim lighting around the bar made her feel a lot more tired. The bar was bustling tonight, with people eating, chatting, and drinking.

It was the same old same old, really.

Her arms hurt like hell due to the fact that she'd been carrying around a metal food tray for the whole night, serving people. If it weren't for her arms, tiredness and low tolerance for drunk men who acted like assholes, she would have made it through the night just fine.

She sat at the bar on a wooden stool, relaxing for a moment while nobody wanted any drinks when suddenly a tall, beautiful woman waltzed into the bar.

Bella's mouth nearly hit the floor. This woman was majestic—and obviously a Res candy. She had chin length silky black hair and deep black eyes frame with long, and equally as black eyelashes. Her russet lips were full and plump and legs muscular and long.

She was beautiful. The woman sat down in front of her and requested some fancy drink that Bella could pronounce but probably couldn't spell. She quickly filled a wineglass with the drink and handed it back to the woman.

"Thank you," she murmured. Her voice was surprisingly cold, despite the warmth of her looks. She took a sip of the drink, noticing how Bella was awkwardly gawking at her tattoo. "What's so interesting?" the woman hissed.

Bella jumped back a little, surprised at her tone of voice again. "S-sorry, I…I, uh, didn't mean to s-stare," she stuttered and stumbled over her words, eyelashes batting furiously. "Your tattoo—it looks really familiar. In fact, I think my friend Jacob has the same one."

The woman pursed her lips and cracked her knuckles in an annoyed manner. "Let me guess which Jacob. Is his last name Black?"

Bella nodded and fought hard to bite back an overly excited squeal. "Yes! Er, I mean…yes. His last name is Black. Do you know him?"

The beauty rolled her eyes. "I wish I didn't."

Her eyebrows furrowed together. "Why?" Bella asked.

The Native American woman looked back up at her, clearly unamused. "Wait, let me guess—you're sunshine?"

Bella blushed a deep crimson color. "My name is Bella—"

"Don't really care," the older woman cut her off in mid-sentence. "It's just that I finally know about this paleface that he's been talking about nonstop."

_He's been talking about me nonstop? _She wondered.

Bella sucked her lip into her mouth and chewed. "Okay. What's your name?"

The woman pushed her short black hair out of her eyes. "Leah. Leah Clearwater."

_Well she certainly fits Jacob's description._

She tried to smile at this Leah person. "It's nice to meet you. You're Seth's older sister, right?"

Leah Clearwater sipped her drink smoothly, her eyes wandering all over the place, landing on anyone but Bella. And that kind of annoyed her. "Naturally," she murmured. She nodded towards Bella's bandaged arms. "What happened?"

Instantly the paler, smaller woman became defensive, hugging her arms to her body. "Nothing. Nothing happened at all. Just a little bruising, is all."

The Res candy's eyes rolled at Bella's defensiveness when those rolling eyes happened to land on something behind Bella that apparently caught her eye. "Hand me that newspaper, will you sunshine?"

So she was going to use the annoying nickname too? She couldn't help but narrow her eyes at the Res candy. Maybe Bella would just start calling Leah 'bitch' and see how it suited her. She grabbed the newspaper behind her and handed it to her.

She flipped the paper up so that Bella couldn't see what she was reading. She took a sip of her alcohol and rolled her eyes for the hundredth time. "Another bear attack again, I guess."

Leah handed Bella the paper to inspect. She scanned it quickly.

**17 year old Susannah Partridge went missing two nights ago in Seattle. Her father explained that she was out running for some groceries and had never returned. Police investigators discovered the clothes of Partridge in a deep forest on the outskirts of the Quileute Reservation in Forks, Washington. The clothes were shredded and bloody. Investigators are not yet sure about Partridge's outcome, but they are beginning to expect the worst. It's beginning to look like this bear is one step before us.**

"That's actually really scary," Bella admitted. "All these people are being attacked by bears. I really don't know what to think of it, but I'm taking my precautions." Her mind drifted back to the russet colored wolf that lurked in her backyard.

Leah sipped her drink again, reading the article on the most previous bear attack. "And look at this—now they have a new theory as to what this might be."

**Chief Charles Swan, of the Forks police station, says that the attacks might not have been at the hands of a bear. While out investigating on the outskirts of the Quileute Reservation, investigators discovered the numerous tracks of what seemed to be a wolf. "At first I didn't believe that these tracks belonged to a wolf," says Chief Swan. "But then I realized that the paw prints were the exact of a normal grey wolf that we've got around the area, just a lot bigger." **

**Chief Swan's theory just may be correct. The innumerable attacks led on the innocent locals of Washington have not just been a fluke. "Bears tend to stay away from humans unless they have a reason to attack," says Dr. Mark Holliday. "It's very unlikely that a bear would splurge on humans. A wolf pack, however, would be a lot more likely to be held responsible for multiple deaths, especially when working together."**

"Yeah," Clearwater snorted. "I don't believe that this mysterious attacker of locals is a bear. And I especially don't think that it's a pack of wolves. That's just borderline ridiculous."

Bella set the paper down on the counter. "My dad's Chief Charlie Swan."

Leah paused and looked up at Bella sympathetically. "You're probably daddy's girl, right?" she snorted and tipped the glass back, the yellow-orange liquid sliding into her lips. "It bet he keeps a good eye on his daughter."

Bella shrugged, tapping her short fingernails against the wooden bar counter. "Have you seen the wolves? Or the bear?"

The beautiful Res candy shook her head. "Nope." She popped her lips on the 'p.' "And I don't think I'll see the bear or those dangerous wolves, 'cause they're not real."

"Well…" the tiny brunette began. "I saw one this morning."

Leah's eyes bugged and she choked on her drink a little. "Saw what?"

Bella lowered her voice and sat down on her wooden barstool. She leaned on her elbows, closer to Leah. "A wolf. It was huge. It was bigger than any bear I'd ever seen. Absolutely ridiculous in size, I'm telling you."

Leah Clearwater looked rather uneasy. "Oh, it's probably just some common wolf," she murmured.

"Doubt it," Bella whispered back.

"Swan!" Mike's booming voice echoed throughout the bar. She looked up to see her pompous red-faced boss walking down the way with a bottle of beer in his hand. The blonde stopped before Leah and gave her a disgusting smile that was supposed to be sexually inviting (in his mind).

Bella pointed a finger at the half empty bottle. "You're um, not supposed to be drinking on the job," she murmured. "You're not you when you're drunk, boss."

He made a face at her. "You're not supposed to be socializing on the job, Swan. You're not you…well ever. I've never met a duller person—you really are a ray of sunshine, aren't you Bella? Y'know, I'm surprised you've got that handsome young Native American gang member following you around like you've offered a candy bar to him or something."

She stood with her apron clutched within her fingers. "Mike, I…"

"Hush." Mike held his hand up. "You bore me."

Leah stood up instantly to her full height of six foot. Mike was only 5'6, so having a beautiful woman tower over him like that made him a little weak in the knees. "I really don't appreciate you speaking to her like that. I'm surprised she doesn't quit on your ass." Clearwater hissed with fire in her beautiful brown eyes.

Mike stepped back and puffed up his chest, trying desperately to feel more masculine. "Right. Like anyone would want her," he grunted, taking a swig of beer. He turned and strode down the hall.

"Go suck a wooden dildo." Leah hissed at him. Bella's boss turned around instantly with his face red and bravado faulty. He asked her what the fuck she said, and the Res candy replied with. "Sorry, I didn't realize you already did."

Mike strode away instantly, grumbling curse words at his feet. Leah looked back at Bella. "What a pitiful excuse for a boss, sunshine. If Jake knew that he was treating you like this, he'd knock him for six in an instant. And I think we both know that Jake can pack a big punch."

Bella shrugged. "Yeah. I guess so." Leah finished her drink and slipped on her leather jacket, covering her perfect russet arms.

"Well, I gotta go. See you around—Jake's bound to bring you around to the bonfire this Saturday. I'd love to see you there." Leah told the smaller woman.

Bella nodded. He hadn't yet asked her, but she wasn't so worried. Saturday was four days away anyways. As the Res candy (quite a catchy name, so Bella decided to give it to Leah) began to walk away, Bella called out for her. "Leah!"

At the mention of her name, Clearwater turned.

Bella nervously fiddled with her fingers. "Thanks for standing up for me," she whispered. "I don't get that very often. In fact, it's quite rare that anyone stands up to Mike for me. He seems to hate me most."

Leah shrugged her shoulders. "C'mon sunshine, use your fire. I know you've got some in there," she pointed to the pale woman's breast. "You just gotta find it."

0o0o0o0o

She woke up in the middle of the night, startled by the sound of a loud rapping noise outside—it was someone knocking on her door. In the freakin' middle of the night. Bella tossed off the covers and stumbled down the stars, trying quickly to answer to the door. It was raining that night, and the thunderstorms had kept her awake for a good two hours. Now that she had finally fallen asleep, she wasn't happy in the least to be woken up again.

The knocking came louder as she neared the door. She groaned and rubbed her temples in exasperation. "Who is waking me up at such an ungodly hour? Hey—I'm coming, I'm coming!" Whoever was at the door was rather impatient.

When Bella yanked open the door, someone fell in. He landed on his knees, soaking wet from the rain. "Jacob?" she gasped. "What the hell are you…"

The words were ripped right off of her tongue as she noticed long, bloody scratches down his arms and back. They were deep gauges made by the claws of some vicious beast. He groaned and tried to stand, but couldn't. As Bella looked at him in shock, she noticed more and more wounds.

He collapsed.

She screamed.

"Jacob!" she cried, tugging at his huge muscled arm, trying to have him stand. But he couldn't. He wasn't able to. "Jake…please!"

0o0o0o0o

**Jacob knows you don't like cliffhangers but like a bad boy, he just doesn't give a sh*t. So he grabs you and gives you the 'look', telling you to deal with it and review so he can work his beautiful charms faster.**

**Then he kisses you.**

**And tells you to vote for this story in the non-canon awards.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's Note: I'm gonna try something new with the POVS. The first bit will be in Jacob's point of view, then I will clearly state when the changing of POVS will occur, and it'll be back to Bella. #feelingexperimental**

**Also, my sweet baby (dog) named Cali had cancer this weekend and my boyfriend and I took her to get some surgery. Please pray for her so that it won't come back! Thank you.**

**I think that this is what we have all been waiting for…nine pages of the truth.**

**Chapter Eleven:**

"You're okay," she gasped, clasping him tightly to her. Jacob's eyes bulged as he groaned in pain. Bella released him immediately, letting his head slam against the pillows. He groaned again, and she grimaced.

Jacob quickly realized where he was, but had no idea why he was here. The last thing he remembered was patrolling around her house when he was attacked from the side by something with brutal force and clever moves. And before he knew it, he was face down in the dirt.

He pondered what could have gone wrong that night. It was his turn to patrol around her house, and he'd happily taken up his job so he could keep an eye on her. Quil was on tonight with him, taking the western borders while he'd taken up the eastern borders.

The forecast looked fine earlier in the day, but Jacob was quickly being pelted by vicious rain from a vicious thunderstorm. That's it, he thought. The sharp diagonal rain and treacherous winds must have blown the scent of the leech right away from his nostrils.

Jesus, why tonight? Why did the goddamn bloodsuckers have to be so goddamn clever? He felt the long scars down his back sting with pain. He was on his stomach, cold rags lying aimlessly across his skin.

She dipped one of the rags in a porcelain bowl, squeezing the excess water out and laying it softly over a gaping wound. "They're deep," she whispered. "I was going to call the ambulance, but…I noticed something."

He gave her a look of confusion. Jacob shifted in his place, but movement only made the wounds more painful. "What?" he asked breathlessly, almost overwhelmed by the pain. "Tell me what you noticed."

She glanced at me warily before setting a rag back in the china bowl. "You're burning hot," she stated.

He smiled slightly, a crooked, mischievous grin. "Why thank you, sunshine."

Bella didn't smile back. "You know that's not what I mean, Jake," she complained. "It's not normal. I took your temperature when you were passed out and it read 108 degrees. I mean, that's crazy! The temperature for a fever is anything over 100 degrees. And you measured 108. You should be in the hospital or dead by now."

He gulped. He didn't quite know what to say to her, but the time was coming soon, and he had to tell her. He just had to. Maybe she would guess first. "Is that so?" he asked her, testing her limits, even though he was cruel by doing so.

"I swear that you could probably bake cookies on your chest, that's how hot you are. And you're feeling fine other than the pain in your back?" Bella asked.

Jacob nodded and pursed his lips. "Yeah. But the pain in my back doesn't feel too nice either."

She was watching him with widened eyes, and he noticed an expression of great confusion on her beautiful features. She sucked her lip between her teeth and chewed it softly, while her big brown eyes focused on the scars.

"Do you still feel pain?" she asked him in a dull whisper. He shifted around slightly, finding that the pain was becoming lesser and lesser.

"Actually, no," he replied. "It's feeling better." Then, becoming uncomfortable under her weary stare, he added, "You're a brilliant nurse, Ms. Swan."

She bit her fingernails nervously. "I've never seen someone heal so quickly," she remarked, running her fingertips over the once-deep gauges in his back that were now reduced to dull pink scars. "That's like, inhuman."

He didn't say anything. She took the rags off of his back and stared at the healing marks, his skin knitting back together. He watched with anxious eyes as Bella rubbed her temples nervously. She glanced back at him.

"What are you?"

"Human," he blurted, almost too soon.

She shook her head, not believing a word he said. "If you were human, you'd be dead, lying on my couch with four long bloody and gory trenches in your back. Is this your secret, Jacob?"

Again, he refused to answer. "I'm human," he protested. "And…yes, this is part of it." She looked horrified, and it broke his heart. "I won't hurt you."

She relaxed slightly and dared not move from his side. "I don't care what you are. My feelings for you…they won't change, I promise."

He pursed his lips and grasped her hand in his tightly. "Bella…" he began softly. "What would you do if I told you that I was a monster? Would you be horrified? Would you scream? Would you run away from me?"

"Never," she gasped, bringing his heavy hand to cup her cheek. "I would never run from you, Jacob."

He sighed in relief. "Good. I don't think I would have been able to take it if you ran away from me."

She looked into his eyes, impatient and curious. "Tell me what you are." He was reluctant so she climbed on top of him and straddled his waist so that she was the only thing he was focusing on. "Remember what I said, Jacob. I'll never run. I'll never leave."

He gulped and his hands slithered up to rest on her shapely waist, massaging the soft white skin there. "Remember that wolf you described to me yesterday? The reddish brown one that saved you from that bloo—er, red-eyed kid?"

She nodded her head.

"Well," Jacob gulped. Here went nothing. "That was me. I was the wolf. _I_ saved you from that child, which was a vampire."

She blinked, chewing on her lip. She dropped her chin, staring at his naked chest. "There's no such thing as vampires. Or werewolves."

He hooked a finger under her chin and forced her to look into his eyes. When soft brown met his hard black eyes he relaxed a little. "I know that nothing makes sense right now, Bella…but it will, I promise. I can even show you that I'm not lying."

He grasped her arm and yanked up the sleeve of her shirt. She'd taken off the bandages after the scratches had stopped bleeding. Along her arms were silvery scars that reached her elbows to her fingers. "What does this mean?"

He showed her his own arm, where the sneaky leech had snagged him. The scar was now silvery as well. "These were at the hands of vampires. You described the feeling of being powerless against the child as she used some invisible force on you, am I right?"

Bella nodded. "That little girl was a vampire?"

He nodded. "That explains everything—the red eyes, the power, and the force. Why she said you smelled good—and bad. Humans smell like fresh baked chocolate chip cookies to vampires," he chuckled humorlessly. "And shapeshifters, or werewolves smell like wet dogs to them. That would be the combination…"

"Show me," she blurted. It caught him off guard, but he nodded anyways.

0o0o0o0o

[BACK TO BELLA'S POV]

She opened the front door and followed him out onto the porch. The raining had died down a lot since midnight, when she'd found him beaten and bloody at her doorstep. The light drizzle and the occasional rumble of thunder was the extent of the commotion.

She flicked on a lamp that was hanging from the rafters of her porch, seeing Jacob's half naked figure standing in the wet grass. "Now I don't want you to scream," he instructed. "That upsets my wolf. And don't run—that upsets us too." He looked around her porch. "And no rifles either."

Bella laughed. "I promise I won't do anything you just said. Just show me this secret, I beg of you." She folded her arms and waited. He nodded at her.

"Okay. I'm going to phase now, sunshine."

She nodded. "Okay."

He held his breath and started to shake a little, eyes narrowing and face reddening. She looked at him again, unsure of what he was doing. It was probably a joke, she figured, and he was probably just trying to make her laugh and/or scare her.

"You look like you're trying to take a really big crap but can't."

He burst out laughing, his big brown eyes rolling back into his head as his mouth opened. It was the funniest thing she'd ever witnessed in all her life, and she couldn't help but smile too. "Fuck, Bella," he wheezed in and out of bursts of laughter. "You broke my concentration."

She laughed as well, blushing a deep rose color. "I broke your concentration? Seriously?"

He nodded. "You did. I need to get pretty angry in order to phase right now, considering I'm pretty damn happy. Phasing takes a lot of emotion—usually the negative kind, like anger or sadness. So say something that will make me mad."

"I hate you," she blurted out, thinking the whole spiel to be ridiculous.

He laughed again. "C'mon sunshine, that's the best you can do?" She nodded and rubbed her arms self-consciously.

"I'm not very good at being mean."

He folded his muscular arms and shifted in his place. "Try again."

"I had sex with Embry."

"WHAT!?"

She jumped in her place. "Well that did it," she mumbled. "Jake, no, I—I was just kidding, don't worry. I didn't have sex with Embry."

He shook his head and narrowed his eyes darkly. He was still shaking violently at her comment, which kind of scared her as well. "Fucking god, that was good," he grumbled. "Should've blown me up then and there. But I'm glad you didn't fuck Embry."

"Me too. I have a type," she whispered.

"What kind of type is that?" he asked.

"Well…" she pursed her lips. "I like tall, muscular guys with a body temperature so hot that they could bake cookies on their chests. And guys with cool tribal tattoos on their right biceps, and silky black hair that reached his chin. I also like mechanics and guys with last names that are colors. But my favorite part of a guy would probably be the fact of whether I hit him with my junky-ass truck or not."

He wore a grin so wide that it probably reached from ear to ear. "Is that so? Do you wanna hear what kind of traits I like in a girl?"

She moved her hands in a 'come here' motion. "Oh bring it on, Black."

He grinned again. "Well, I like girls that are shrimps compared to my size. I prefer brunettes with big brown eyes—and girls who have a good taste in underwear design. My favorites are particularly floral and leafy. I like girls who let me call them nicknames, no matter how ridiculous, or how _true_ they might be. I like girls who dance awkwardly in the rain, are clumsy in heels, and play dirty when it comes to mud fights. But my most particular and favorite part of a girl would be the face of whether she hit me with her junky-ass truck or not."

She giggled. "Ha-ha, very funny. Are you going to phase or not?"

"Right. You pretty little distraction you," he mock-scolded her. "I'll focus on you and Embry fucking again."

She grimaced. "That's actually kind of disturbing, considering the only person I see myself giving my virtue up to is you."

He paused again. "What did you say?"

She blushed another shade of rose and flapped her arms wildly. "Alright, alright, just…turn wolfy now."

"Right," he nodded. "Embry. Sunshine. Not good. Phase."

In no time at all, Jacob began to shake violently, steam trailing from his mouth, nostrils and ears. There was the sound of ripping clothes, splitting skin and bone crunching, and then bursts of fur and growls.

And before Bella knew it, she was standing in front of a huge red-brown wolf. Deep black eyes stared back at her intensely, watching her every move. Suddenly feeling weak in the knees, she felt around for the porch seat behind her and plopped down it, the breath caught in her lungs.

The wolf was absolutely huge and terrifying. It had teeth and claws razor sharp like knives, but it didn't look threatening. The wolf didn't seem terrifying in the least. It looked powerful, proud, and strong.

"Jake…Jacob?" she whispered towards the wolf. "Is that you?"

The wolf's large head dipped down slightly in a wolfish nod. It stood and made its way towards the porch steps idly, each step taking him closer and closer to the porch where she sat. Her mouth fell open. "That's amazing," she murmured. "The group of boys you hang out with…are they werewolves as well?"

Another nod.

"Wow."

0o0o0o0o

"There's a gene passed down from out great ancestors of the powerful wolf. There are legends too lengthy to tell right now, but there will be a bonfire this weekend that I want you to come to. My dad will tell some Quileute legends and you'll get a little more knowledge about us," he said to her. "I want you to know everything."

"Right," she nodded. "And Leah's the first female werewolf right?"

He nodded his head and rubbed the stubble on his chin. "Right. And Collin's the youngest wolf, phased at 12 years old when the bloodsuckers were lurking around some parts of the woods. Sam and I caught the leech, but we were too late. Collin and his friend Brady were the youngest members to phase. And I thought Seth was young at 14."

She shook her head in amazement. "Wow. That kind of sucks, I'll admit. Did it hurt?"

"Like hell," he agreed. "It was the worst pain of my life. I was absolutely terrified and I didn't know what was happening. Of course, when my father told me that I was transforming into a wolf I didn't believe him. Who would? When you're not in the pack, you think all the legends are just loads and loads of shit."

Bella shrugged and shifted in her porch seat. She picked up the cool glass of lemonade and sipped the tangy-sweet drink. "I think the legends are actually really cool. Who wouldn't want to have a giant wolf as a boyfr…um, friend."

He grinned widely, one that spread from ear to ear again. "Go ahead, sunshine. Call me your boyfriend. We've kissed on more than one occasion, and you've already seen me naked. I think we've passed the friend boundary."

She blushed and shook her head. "I just wasn't sure what you thought."

"You're my imprint," he blurted. "Of course I think of you like that."

She cocked an eyebrow and giggled. "I thought you said that was another legend, or myth."

His eyes turned a deep black color and his tongue darted out to moisten his sizzling lips. "Lied, again." He put his hands up in surrender. "What can I say, sunshine? One couldn't help but imprint on you because you're just…so…irresistible."

She blushed and yet again feared that her face would turn a permanent pink color. "I'm far from irresistible. You're actually kind of funny."

He grabbed her face in his hands and smashed his lips onto hers, his tongue licking over her pink pout. She was surprised and stared at him like he had three heads as he pulled away from her, grinning like bastard. A sexy as hell bastard, that was.

"I really, really would like it if you accepted the imprint."

"Okay. I accept."

He laughed and shook his head. "I already told you what imprinting was. It's a lifelong commitment. We have crazy levels of adoration for the one we imprint on, and it becomes impossible for us to stay away from our imprints for long periods of time. In fact, it hurt like a bitch when I didn't see you for those four days and you found me outside of Barb and Frank's. But anyways, you don't accept the imprint by just saying you do. Actions, my beautiful ray of sunshine, speak louder than words."

All of the sudden she felt her eyelids get heavy as she was consumed by lust. "What are you saying, Jacob Black?"

He brought her hand to his mouth, his eyes never leaving hers, and licked a trail from her fingers to her elbow. "Sex," he said. "I'm talking sex."

She snatched her hand away as she felt wetness seeping at her panties. The feeling was foreign. "I'm a virgin," she whispered. "I've never been with a man before."

He moaned lightly, scooting his chair closer to hers. "That's how I wanted it to be. How I hoped it to be…"

She had to tear her eyes away from him, for the heat from his blazing, sexual stare was almost too much to handle. "Don't wolves mark their mates first?"

He froze the very moment she spoke. "Marking…?"

She nodded her head, wisps of hair falling into hers. "Yeah…marking."

He blew out a puff of air and relaxed against his wooden chair. "That's a whole different level of commitment. If you ask me to mark you, I couldn't resist. But don't ask—don't do it yet, honey. We have to discuss and get permission from the council. Let's just work on getting you to accept the imprint, hey?" He winked at her. She shuddered.

Bella had to get her mind off of Jacob and her, hot and sweaty and naked, in a bed, tangling sheets. _Holy shit._ "What happened to Emily's face? I never asked you because…well, I forgot." His demeanor changed completely; suddenly in his eyes there was a desolation and shamefulness replacing the lust and vigor. "You don't have to tell me."

He shook his head. "They told everyone it was a bear attack down at Mount Olympia. It was in the paper for weeks." He let out a humorless laugh, shaking his head and gazing into the distance. "But it wasn't a bear that attacked Emily. I've never told you why Leah's always kind of depressed. She and Sam had a thing."

Bella's eyes widened. "Like, they were together?"

"Mm-hmm. Emily and Leah were second cousins, but they were really close. Like sisters, really."

She grimaced. "That's kind of sucky."

He snorted. "You bet."

"I'm kind of rethinking Emily now."

"Don't," he suddenly hissed. "Emily didn't ask for this. She pushed Sam away for so long for fear of hurting Leah. But it was hard to resist Sam's level of adoration and love for her for only so long. But one day Sam lost it after trying so hard and still getting rejected—he blew up, literally, into this giant wolf. He scarred Emily for life, and he rushed her to the hospital guilt-stricken. She didn't rat him out; she gave in and forgave him for what he did. But it took Sam a lot longer to forgive himself after seeing the constant reminder on Emily's one beautiful face."

She grimaced again. "That's horrible," she murmured.

"Now you understand," he whispered. "Don't underestimate us. I could hurt you. I've hurt many, but I didn't mean to. We hurt the ones we love most."

She shook her head. "I…I don't understand."

"I was a very aggressive kid," he murmured. "I would beat up my older sisters when we got in fights. When I was seven, I put my older sister Rebecca into the hospital for two days because I beat her so badly for ripping my art project. And it was a fucking accident…"

He cradled his head in his hands shamefully. "In middle school, I got into so many fights. I beat up kids so badly for making fun of my friends or the girls I liked. I broke the noses of five assholes."

"Self-defense," she murmured.

He shook his head. "Not self-defense. It was me being a monster. In high school, I dated a girl named Alicia. She cheated on me and fucked my best friend at the time, Lenny. I beat Lenny so badly that he landed in the hospital for a full week. I broke his nose and made his teeth go through his bottom lip. He didn't rat me out, and neither did she…even though when she tried to apologize I pushed her so hard that she landed on the sidewalk. Should've both rat me out."

This was her first time hearing any of it. It was almost unreal, hearing that this sweet person was such a horrible bully when he was younger. "It's not you," she made the mistake of whispering.

"Then you don't fucking know me!" he boomed, standing from his chair and towering over her. "You don't know a fucking thing. That was me. This is still me. The only thing that keeps me from going fucking insane is _you."_

She lowered her head. "I'm sorry." Tears glistened at her eyes, but she shamefully tried to ignore them by shielding her eyes with a curtain of silky brown hair.

His face fell. "No, I'm sorry. Baby—I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled at you like that. It's just that you have no idea how shitty I felt before you came along. I love you so much."

She looked up, quickly wiping away her tears. "I love you too."

His face brightened. "See what you do to me? You're sunshine—you make me happy."

"I do?"

"Fuck yeah," he agreed. "You do, baby, you do."

She smiled at the new nickname. "I like it."

"What?"

"Baby," she whispered. "I like it."

He smirked. "Good. But I'm still calling you sunshine, you're not getting out of that one."

She smiled at him brightly. "Oh, damn."

0o0o0o0o

**Jacob will continue this soon, if you review quickly. He has more to say, more to say. Particularly, more do "act on."**

"**Sex. I'm talking sex." –Jacob Black**


	12. Chapter 12

**Author's Note: Yeah, so I'm really sorry about this taking so long. My life has been crazy lately and I just hadn't find the time to write. Hope this didn't come too late—reviews are candy. Love you all :)**

**This chapter is on the shorter side, I do hope you all forgive me for that.**

**Chapter Twelve:**

There came a knock in the morning around the time of seven thirty. Bella rolled out of bed unceremoniously and stomped down the stairs halfheartedly while wearing nothing but an oversized tee shirt and skimpy green panties.

Her hair was piled on top of her head in a messy bun that told anyone and everyone that she just didn't give a flying crap about her appearance that morning. Jacob had left her house at two o' clock last night (or earlier this morning if things came to being technical), leaving her with only five hours to sleep. And now he was waking her up.

She was positive it was him, anyways. Who else would visit her at the crack of dawn? Hell, who else would visit her in general? She snorted to herself. It was true, very true. Bella wasn't a favorite amongst her coworkers, especially Macie Grimmett—and she had to deal with Queen Macie a lot.

The knocking got louder and louder as she neared the front door. "Alright, alright!" she called. "I'm coming." But still, the knocking didn't stop. It seemed like Jacob wanted an angry ray of 'sunshine' that morning. Hell, he was just asking for it. She wasn't going to move any faster—her loins ached like the devil after going for a jog yesterday.

When she swung open the door, he was leaning against the doorframe as naked as the day he was born. She gasped and looked away immediately—his laughter ensued, irking her. It was too early for her to be laughed at. "Oh come now," he murmured. "It's not like it's the first time you've ever seen me naked." Then he added, "It's how we met, remember?"

She still refused to look at him. She glanced at his feet to distract herself from his numerous temptations. Bella didn't want to look up at his glorious piece of man at the junction of his copper thighs, but something was absently pulling her eyes up—it was his fingers. He cupped her chin in his huge hand and made her look into his eyes. "That's better. There's my sunshine." Then he smiled.

Bella shuddered at the sound of his deep bass that glided smoothly through her ears. "Jake…what do you want? This is such an ungodly hour to wake me up." The moment his eyes locked with hers, she trembled and went a little weak in the knees.

"You mean you're not happy to see me?" he smirked, catching her easily in his bulky arms.

She gasped. He was naked, she was half-naked. She didn't even have a bra on, and he was pressing her tightly against his chest. Bella couldn't help but feel the growing erection pressing against her upper thigh. He groaned when she tried to struggle out of his grasp, her naked flesh pressing against the junction of his thighs. "Goddammit Bella, stop struggling." His tone was superior to hers and it was one that demanded to be obeyed; it was also dripping with lust and wanton.

She stilled herself, submitting. He smirked to himself, loving the control he had over the beautiful little creature lying limply in his arms. He pressed some fabric into her open hand. She looked down and saw a pair of cutoff shorts in her hand. "What's this?" she asked, annoyed. "Jacob, I—"

He released her and pushed past her into the house. "Listen, I ripped them while phasing near you house, and Sam would be really pleased if I didn't show up to Emily's bare ass naked so…please? Can you sew them for me?"

She groaned, and he made a puppy face. "Jacob—Jake, no…it's waaaayyy to early for that."

He grabbed a bath towel from her closet and wrapped it around his waist so she didn't have to keep avoiding his stare due to his prized crown jewels hanging out in the open. "C'mon sunshine…please?"

"What if I told you I couldn't sew?" she asked him.

His brow furrowed. "Can't all women sew?"

"That's not the point." She let loose a huff of surprised laughter. "And that was really chauvinistic."

He grimaced, realizing where he went wrong. "Sorry."

She looked at the pair of shorts in her hand and sighed. "Alright, fine. I'll sew them for you."

"Yes!" He kissed her quickly. "Thank you."

She rolled her eyes and laid the shorts on the counter and fetched the sewing box from the cabinet. "You hungry? There's some leftover bacon from last night's dinner in the refrigerator. Warm it up and you can have it for breakfast."

He grabbed the bacon as soon as she said something about it. "Aw, thanks sunshine. I was starving. I didn't eat since yesterday at noon."

She winced as she cut the blue thread from the spool. "You know that's not good for you," she remarked. "Especially a man of your size…you shouldn't starve yourself like that."

He pushed his hair out of his eyes and shrugged. "Eh, I'm kind of used to starving myself now. Patrolling is really time consuming, but it's a necessity. It's important for the protectors, or the wolves, to protect the Res. I'm Sam's second in command, like the Beta of the pack. I was supposed to be the Alpha, but Sam phased before I did. The only difference between me and Sam is that it's in my blood to be the Alpha. My grandfather Ephraim Black was the Alpha of his pack too."

The whole wolf thing was something Bella was getting accustomed to. Any normal person wouldn't be talking to an extremely hot Native American guy on the ranks of his special wolf pack. But she wasn't normal, so she talked anyways. "Why don't you claim Alpha then?" she questioned. "Isn't that like, a huge honor or something?"

She began to stitch up the gaping holes in Jacob's shorts. He snorted. "I mean, Sam did offer me the position, but I stepped down to Beta. I didn't want that huge responsibility hanging over my soldiers. Sam's a great Alpha in my opinion. He does the job just fine."

He grabbed the bacon from the microwave and sat down at the end of the table, cheerfully shoving meat into his face. Like a child, he watched her intently as she poked the needle through the fabric and brought the separated and frayed edges together.

"You ever gonna step up?" she asked.

He shrugged his massive shoulders. "Maybe one day I will…you know, follow in my grandfather's footsteps. Not yet, though."

He looked back at her as she busied herself with sewing up the shorts. "Hey Bella?"

"What?"

"Is that my shirt you're wearing?"

That caught her attention. She looked down from her work at the oversized tee shirt that she wore. It had the Seahawks logo on it—football—something she'd obviously never watch, nor purchase. "I dunno."

He chuckled. "It's mine alright. I must've left it here."

She looked at him funny. "Okay. Well what would you have me do? Take it off and give it back? I thought you ran a one hundred and eight degree temperature."

"I do," he smirked, eyes narrowing and lips turning up at the corners in a devious smile. "And yes, I'd like for you to take it off."

Her face reddened as she imagined herself taking her shirt off and baring herself to him. Bella grumbled apprehensively and her sewing sped up a good measure. "Jacob Black, you really ought to learn some—ouch!" She dropped the needle and sucked her finger into her mouth. He dropped the piece of bacon that he was chewing on and instantly rushed to her side.

"What happened? Bella? Let me see it," he demanded. He yanked her finger out of her mouth and examined it. His tense shoulders relaxed and a smooth grin manifested onto his beautiful, other-worldly features. "Oh come on, sunshine. You scared the shit outta me for this?"

She yanked her hand away and scowled at him. "What do you mean I scared you?" she questioned, cradling her injured finger.

He huffed. "Well for starters, the way you screeched led me to believe that you skewered your finger on the sewing needle," he murmured, and she blushed gain. "And second, I can almost feel what you feel. Wolves and their imprints are so incredibly connected with each other. When one gets hurt, the other does too. But the severity of the injuries are a lot milder to the partner of the one that actually got hurt, if that makes any sense whatsoever."

She shrugged. "It kind of does." Then she grasped his hand and examined his finger. "You're not hurt then, are you?"

He shook his head and ruffled her hair with his free hand. "Think of it like this, honey. If my right arm broke, you'd experience bruising on your right arm. Not the full out break as well, just the bruising. If one of your daily spaz-attacks took your face to the floor and you broke your front teeth out, then I'd feel some mild toothaches."

She pinched him and he almost squealed like a girl. "I am not a spaz."

"Sure, sure."

She pinched him again—and this time he did squeal like a girl.

"Damn, you're lucky I heal fast," he grumbled, rubbing the spot where her nails dug into his skin.

She tied a knot at the end of the thread and snipped it with her thread scissors. She held the finished shorts up into the air and smiled at him. "Voila. All done."

He grabbed the cutoffs and examined them. "It's perfect. You sew better than both of my sisters do." She looked away as he dropped the towel and slipped his shorts back on. She clicked her nails subconsciously on the wooden table.

"Hey sunshine?" he asked.

"Yeah?" her attention was directed to him after she'd been gazing at his rock hard abs. She blushed a little, not realizing what she was doing.

"I know I probably should've told you about this earlier, but there's gonna be a bonfire tonight, and I'd love for you to come. Everyone from the pack's gonna be there and it'll be a good chance to hear some of the pack legends." Jacob told her, scratching the back of his head. "What do you say?"

She nodded her head and managed a small smile. "That actually sounds really fun. Sure, I'll come."

He grabbed her and kissed her lips once more. "Mmm. That's good."

"You gonna go?"

He threw a glance over at the clock. "Yeah, Sam's expecting us to be at Emily's by eight. We have to discuss some new routes and attacks."

She sucked her lip into her mouth and chewed. "Right. Werewolves and vampires—natural born enemies."

He grinned. "Duh."

0o0o0o0o

The grocery store wasn't all that packed at eight o' clock on a Saturday morning. She walked the aisles with her green grocery basket, picking out various seasonings and breadcrumbs for the chicken wings that she was planning to make for the bonfire that night.

She was missing him already, even though they'd both left the house fifteen minutes ago. Jacob explained it o her as it being the imprint bond that was making her feel like that—making her yearn for him. And she replied with, "Well that's kind of sucky."

"Paprika."

She read it off of her grocery list. She looked down the spices aisle for the little red bottle. "Paprika, paprika, paprika…where are you, you little bugger?"

She began to walk down the grocery aisle, her eyes scanning the shelves. "I think what you're looking for is over there," a smooth voice from behind her echoed. She jumped and whirled around.

The man was taller than her with shaggy brown hair and deep golden eyes. His skin was pale white—a change, considering that she was so used to seeing that glorious russet brown.

She hadn't realized that her hand was clamped over her breast and her eyes were wild, like those of a deer in headlights.

"Forgive me," the man chuckled. "I didn't mean to startle you."

She shook her head and looked down. "No, it's…it's fine. Thank you."

Bella grabbed the paprika off of the shelf and plopped it into her basket. She unfolded her crumbled grocery list and read off the next item. "Mayonnaise. Mayonnaise, mayonnaise, mayonnaise."

"Do you always repeat things three times?"

She jumped nearly twelve feet again. "Jesus Christ."

The beautiful man stepped back a little. "I'm really sorry for scaring you again. I didn't mean to."

Her face reddened in annoyance. "It's fine," she said again. "And yes, I do. Don't ask me why I repeat things three times, I just do. Now excuse me, but I have to find my mayo-mayo-mayo."

"It's in aisle eight-eight-eight."

She shot him a dark look, but all she got back were sunny smiles from the model-like man standing behind her. He looked down at his list. "I need some mayo too. Walk with me?"

She quirked an eyebrow. "I have a boyfriend."

He laughed. "It's okay. In fact, it's perfect. Shall we go?"

This guy was impossible for her to decipher.

Bella began to walk, not caring if she waited for him or not. He followed her to the mayonnaise, plopping a jar into his own basket. Then he gave her one due to the fact that she was too short to reach it herself. "My name's Riley, by the way. If you were interested."

She absently nodded and took the mayonnaise. It was the last thing that was on her list, and she was glad. Bella wanted to get away from this guy and his sickeningly sweet charm. She headed towards the manual check out line.

He appeared in front of her. "Well aren't you gonna tell me your name?"

"No."

"That burned."

She sighed and gave in. "Hello, Riley," she whispered through gritted teeth. "My name is Bella Swan."

He didn't think she was being rude because he was too nice. "Bella. Now that's a beautiful name."

She placed her basket on the check out center loading shelf and began to check herself out. Bella went quickly alongside Riley, who checked out the mayonnaise, salt and a container of red liquid that sloshed around in an ugly way.

"What is that?" she asked him.

His face paled, if it could even get any more pale. "Uh…it's pig blood. I work part time at this animal facility, and they've got these rare vampire bats there. They're doing some kind of…um…testing about the bats."

She shuddered. "Okay."

"Interesting, huh?"

"I guess so."

He checked out four other containers of pig's blood before standing and looking at her straight in the eyes. "Will I see you again, Bella Swan?"

It was like an exact replay of her first encounter with Jacob. She just shrugged her shoulders. "I dunno."

He grasped her hand. She gasped at his cold touch, like he'd had his hand stuck in a bucket of ice for hours. His grip was stone tight, so that when she tried pulling away, she wasn't able to do so.

Riley placed his icy lips on her warm flesh and smiled. "I do hope I'll see you again."

"I'm easy to forget," she countered. "You probably won't."

He finally released her and Bella snagged her hand away, nestling it in the warmth of her jacket. "Now how could I forget a face as beautiful as yours?" he asked.

Her face turned bright red as she turned and walked away. She wanted Jacob—she never felt safe whenever she was away from him.

**0o0o0o0o**

**Jacob waits for reviews so he can get to his bonfire with Bella earlier.**

**And who, might he ask, is this Riley dude?**


	13. Chapter 13

**Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews, guys. In this chapter, I will include a lot of Quileute history. I got this from the movies and the books and other websites, and rephrased some of it myself. It took some time, but I did it! Enjoy (:**

**Chapter Thirteen:**

"Are you sure that it's okay for me to be here?" she asked him, unsure of herself.

He nodded. "You're my imprint, and you're a part of this pack now whether you like it or not. Besides, you run with wolves. If you're gonna hang around us for a long time, than I thought it'd be good for you to learn some history about us."

They walked the darkened path to the Clearwater's backyard for the bonfire. Harry Clearwater and Billy Black were telling stories that night to the new pack members who'd never heard them and few new imprints.

Crowds of people were in the Clearwaters' backyard, gathering around the fire, and the snack table. Bella carried her plate of homemade fried chicken while Jacob was being a gentleman and carrying her two pies—one blueberry and one apple—for her to the snack table.

Emily spotted her first. "Well look who's here," she laughed, opening her arms and giving her a small hug. "And with food too! I thought Kim and I would be the only ones whipping up some creations for the bonfire tonight." She smiled, the scars on her face crinkling.

"Glad I could be of service," Bella murmured, setting the plate of chicken down onto the snack table. As soon as the plastic wrap was peeled back, the boys rushed over. Greedy hands grabbed at the drumsticks and soon half the plate was almost gone.

Paul was cackling as he waved his two chicken drumsticks in front of Embry's face. Embry had only managed to grab one before his hand was slapped away by Quil's. Jacob smacked Paul on the back of the head, catching the fiery wolf off guard for a split second, leaving Jacob the window to grab the extra chicken leg.

And he did. Everyone burst into laughter. Paul wailed before lowering his head and shaking so violently that Jacob grabbed Bella and shielded her behind his body. A thin woman with hair down to her waist approached him and smoothed a red-nailed hand over Paul's burning bicep.

Instantly he calmed down, gazing at the beautiful woman in the floral dress and kissing her sweetly on the cheek. "That's my sister Rachel," Jacob told her quietly. "She's Paul's imprint…unfortunately."

Bella laughed. "Unfortunately."

Seth, the sweetest of the pack, came up to her and gave her a hug when she was least expecting it. "I'm glad you could make it, sunshine." The younger boy grinned. "These stories are great. My dad's telling one tonight. You gonna stick around?"

Bella nodded. "Definitely. Pie?" She offered up the blueberry pie, and instantly Seth's handsome features brightened, if it was even possible.

"Pie? Blueberry? Rad!" He grabbed the whole entire pie out of her hands and stuck a plastic fork into it. Before Bella could object, Seth disappeared into the sea of people.

Jacob found her spluttering, trying to piece together what had just happened. "Seth's favorite desserts are pies—especially blueberry," he explained to her.

She pursed her lips, her fingers touching the smooth white fabric of her sundress. "A whole pie though?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "We're wolves, sunshine. What more do you expect?"

She threw her hands up. "Okay. I should come more equipped with food next time," she said, throwing a glance over to the empty fried chicken plate.

"Probably." Jacob smiled.

From afar, Sam gave Jacob a look that meant that he wanted him over there. Jacob threw a glance down to Bella, letting her know that he'd be back in a flash. Emily grabbed Bella's arm as soon as she saw the opportunity fit.

"Let me introduce you around!" she squealed. "There's probably not many that you've not seen, but still—I want you to make yourself known."

"O-okay."

Emily proceeded to drag her around to the crowds of people—Bella got hugs from Claire, Quil's two year old imprintee, and kisses from Kim. "I'd like you to meet Quil Ateara Sr., or Old Quil as we like to call him. He is the oldest—and wisest—member of our council."

"You saved yourself from that one," Old Quil chuckled lightly. His gray hair grew over his shoulders with feathers and beads wound into it. The old man looked at Bella under his big glasses and baseball cap. "Bella. I've heard much about you. Welcome to your first authentic Quileute bonfire."

"Thank you," Bella gushed. "It's really a pleasure to be here."

Old Quil gave a curt nod before Emily dragged her away to meet the rest of the elders. Billy Black, and Harry and Sue Clearwater. Bella had met Billy, Jacob's father the very first night that she and Jacob had met.

"Bella Swan," Billy greeted. "It's nice to see you again."

She shook Billy's hand and smiled. "You too, Mr. Black."

Billy pushed his wheelchair a little bit further. "Have you been taking good care of my son?"

Bella blushed. She wasn't quite sure what he meant by that, but she didn't dare question. She settled with nodding and agreeing. Then she met Seth and Leah's parents, and shook hands with them both.

The Quileutes were a friendly bunch, and she instantly felt at home when she was with them. As she walked with Emily around the Clearwaters' yard, she noticed Seth holding a smaller girl's hand. She'd never seen the girl before, so she asked Emily.

"Oh, right. That's Pepper, Seth's imprint. It happened about a week ago." Emily explained to her. She didn't seem too fond of this Pepper girl.

"Hmm," Bella pondered aloud. "Jake didn't tell me Seth imprinted."

Emily shrugged. "Sam didn't really tell me either. Pepper's fresh out of high school and the first time I met her she wouldn't stop talking about Seth. And Seth's like a little brother to me, so hearing how good of a kisser he was didn't quite thrill me."

Bella shuddered and nodded her head. "I understand. And what kind of name is Pepper?"

The older woman cradled her ballooning torso in her hand, sighing as she stretched her achy back. "The whole family's a little weird. She's got two brothers named Aspen and Pine, and three sisters named Hazel, Poppy, and Chryssi."

"The others are weird names, but Chryssi's not that bad."

Emily chuckled and shook her head so hard that her neat braided bun almost unraveled. "It stands for Chrysanthemum."

The smaller woman blinked. "Never mind then."

The more Bella looked at Pepper, the more she took in. Pepper had glossy black hair that reached the middle of her neck, done up in two incredibly thick, but short French braids. Her eyes were abnormally large for her face and her thin lips glossed with pink balm. She was a strange beauty, but a beauty nonetheless.

Seth wrapped an arm around Pepper's waist, bringing her closer and planting a loving kiss on the girl's cheek. She giggled and turned her head so that her lips landed squarely on his.

People started to gather around the bonfire when the elders sat in their fold-up chair 'thrones'. Bella searched for Jacob just as he was searching for her. He smirked when he saw her and dragged her over to a log on the other side of the great, roaring fire.

"I got us good seats," Jacob murmured, bringing her closer to his body. Bella shivered as a chilly night breeze swept through the valley and kissed her bare arms. She wound her arms around his heated torso and squeezed.

They were alone on the log while the others gathered closer to the elders. She turned her head towards him, locking eyes with his. She wanted to kiss him, but the eyes around her were making her wary. She'd never been with a boyfriend so publicly like this. Jacob seemed to notice her hesitation, so he took charge.

His lips landed on hers, forcing her mouth open with his teeth. She let out a little moan as she sank into his arms. His tongue danced around in her mouth expertly.

"Hello!" a cheerful voice chirped, making Bella pull away instantly. It was the new girl, Pepper, holding hands with her newfound lover. "Are these seats taken?" She pointed to the seats on the log next to them both.

"No."

"Yes."

They both answered in unison. Bella gave Jacob a terse look before repeating her answer more firmly. "_No,_ they are _not_ taken. Feel free to sit down." Jacob groaned. Bella elbowed him in the side lightly. "Be nice!" she mouthed at him.

Seth grinned and let Pepper sit down next to Bella while he took the end seat kindly. "Sunshine. I've heard so much about you," Pepper gushed. "Y'know, Sunshine's a beautiful name. I really wish that I was named that."

Bella blushed a deep red color while Jacob began to laugh his head off next to her. She coughed and shook her head. "My name's not _Sunshine,_" she tried not to hiss, but it ended up coming out annoyed anyways.

Pepper paled a little. "Oh my goodness, I hope I didn't offend you! Whenever Seth mentioned you, he always used the name Sunshine."

Jacob laughed harder, and this time Seth joined in. Pepper looked around, terribly confused and sort of upset. Bella sat with her teeth clenched together, listening to the obnoxious laughter of Jacob and Seth.

"What is your name, then?" Pepper asked desperately. "What do I call you?"

Bella looked at the young girl. All she obviously wanted was to be was liked by this new 'family' that she was introduced to. So Bella decided that she'd cut Pepper some slack.

"Bella," she said. "My name's Bella Swan. And _Sunshine_ is just an annoying nickname that Jacob Black over here made up for me the first time we met."

At the mention of his name, Jacob kissed her cheek. "Nice to meet you, Pepper."

Billy cleared his throat. "Tonight's stories are the classic stories of how the Quileutes came to be. Harry and I shall tell you all of the stories of Taha Aki and Utlapa."

Bella silenced instantly, snuggling against her wolf's side. Pepper did the same, watching her with idolizing eyes.

0o0o0o0o

_Generations passed and the last of the Great Spirit Chiefs came to be. Taha Aki was a man of peace and was known for his wisdom. However, there was one man named Utlapa, who believed that they should all use their magic to expand their control over the Hoh and the Makah tribes, thus building a strong empire. When the spirit warriors left their bodies, their minds were all connected with each other. This is why our spirit warriors can communicate through the pack mind to this day. Taha Aki did not like what Utlapa wanted and banned him from the tribe. Utlapa left and hid in the nearby forest. _

_Taha Aki was cautious and protected his people even when there was no danger. Every so often, the Spirit Chief would leave the village to a sacred and secret place in the mountains. He would leave his body behind and searched the surrounding areas for any dangers or threats. One day, Utlapa followed Taha Aki planning to kill him, but as he waited for him to leave his body he hatched another plan. Utlapa left his body, took Taha Aki's body, and killed his own body—slitting his throat and preventing Taha Aki from entering the physical world in Utlapa's body. Taha Aki knew immediately what was happening when Utlapa joined him in the spirit world. He raced back to his sacred place but was too late. _

_He followed his body in his spirit self down to the tribe. For weeks he watched with despair as Utlapa made sure everyone believed he was Taha Aki. Then Utlapa's first edict came: no warrior was to enter the spirit world because he had a vision of danger. Utlapa took liberties with the tribe that no one ever dreamed of. He took a second and a third wife, even though Taha Aki's first wife still lived. Eventually, Taha Aki brought a great wolf down the mountains to kill Utlapa and free the tribe, but Utlapa only hid from it behind his warriors. The wolf ended up killing a young man trying to protect the false chief, making Taha Aki's grief greater. _

_Taha Aki had been away from his body long enough to be in agony. He felt doomed of never being ever to cross the line between life and death. The place between spirit and human was terrifying—to have no body was also terrifying to him as well. The great wolf followed him through the forest and Taha Aki felt jealous of the dumb creature; at least it had a body and a life. At that moment the Spirit Chief had an idea that changed the future of the Quileutes. He asked the animal if he could share his body with him and the wolf agreed. Taha Aki merged with the wolf's soul and was with a body once more._

_As a single being, the wolf and the man went to the village. The people feared the wolf, shouting for the warriors' help. The warriors came with spears in their hands, but they stopped in surprise of what the wolf was doing: the wolf was retreating from the warriors and trying to yelp the songs of their people. The warriors realized what it was doing and could only think that it was being influenced by a spirit—one of the tribes' long lost spirits._

_An old warrior, Yut, disobeyed the orders of the false chief and left his body. Yut gathered the truth in an instant and welcomed Taha Aki. Almost instantly, Utlapa realized what had happened and raced towards Yut's body with his knife. The other warriors were confused. Yut went back into his body but could not fight Utlapa off before warning the others, as he was too old. Taha Aki watched as Yut's spirit left the world and he returned to the wolf's body feeling a great rage. The wolf shuddered and transformed into a man before the eyes of the warriors. The man did not look like Taha Aki's body, but like his spirit self, which the warriors recognized instantly because they'd flown with Taha Aki's spirit body many times in the spirit world._

_Utlapa tried to run but Taha Aki had the strength of the wolf and killed him. Upon realization of what had happened, everything returned to normal. The only change he kept in place was the forbidding of spirit travel. From then on he was known as the Great Wolf or the Spirit Man. He led the tribe for many years because he did not age. He fathered many sons, who in time found that they too could turn into wolves on reaching manhood. However, they were all different because the wolf form reflected the spirit of the man. Some became warriors like Taha Aki and did not age, others did not like to transform, and started to age. _

_After Taha Aki gave up his spirit self, trouble began in the North with the Makahs. Several young women had disappeared and they believed the neighboring wolves lingering around Quileute territory were to blame. However, all the wolves knew it was none of them because their minds were still connected with each other. Taha Aki did not want a war, especially since he could not lead his people any longer. He gave his eldest son, Taha Wi, the responsibility of finding who was to blame. _

_Taha Wi led five wolves in search through mountains looking for evidence but they only found a strange, sweet scent. They followed it and the journey took them so far north that Taha Wi sent the two younger brothers back to inform the chief. Taha Wi and the other two never returned. _

_A year later, two Makah maidens were taken from their homes on the same night and the Makahs called upon the wolves. The Quileutes found the same sweet scent and went on the hunt once more. They came across a creature that looked like man, but was hard as stone and cold as ice. One of them underestimated the strength of the creature and became a victim. Yaha Uta and his other brother were more careful but the creature matched their movements and got his hands on one of them. Yaha Uta found an opening on the creature's throat and began tearing at him desperately trying to save his brother. It was too late but he succeeded in ripping his enemy apart. _

_Yaha Uta laid the remains of the creature on the ground to be examined. Suddenly the corpse began to try attaching itself together again and so the elders set fire to it. We now know that the only way to destroy the creatures is by setting fire to their remains. They spread the ashes far and wide, except a small bag, which Taha Aki wore around his neck to be warned if the creature ever decided to get himself together again. The creature was called the Cold One, the Blood Drinker. They feared there were others like it since they only had one wolf protector left—Taha Aki. They lived in fear that the cold man was not alone…and they were right._

_Then came the Cold Woman, its mate. She was the most beautiful creature to be seen, though one small boy claimed the smell of her being hurt his nose. An elder heard this and yelled for them to escape. He was the first to die at the mercy of the cold woman. She then proceeded to the other people until Yaha Uta arrived, followed by Taha Aki, his third wife who was also his imprint, and the elders. When Yaha Uta was defeated, Taha Aki turned into an old gray wolf with the strength given by his anger alone. He began fighting the Cold Woman, when his third wife came to a conclusion. _

_She had just seen her son killed and now her husband ran a terrible danger, along with the rest of her sons and tribe. She heard every word the witnesses told the council and heard Yaha Uta's version of events the night the other one was beaten. She knew that his brother's divergence had saved him. She grabbed a knife from one of her sons, ran towards the blood drinker and stabbed herself in the heart. The Cold Woman could not turn away from the fresh blood and gave in to the thirst. Taha Aki tore out her throat and finished her off along with two of his sons who felt such rage at seeing their mother dead that they themselves turned into wolves. After that, Taha Aki never returned to his human self, staying to protect his wife and imprint's body and leaving to the forest never to return to the tribe. _

_Taha Aki's descendants no longer turned to wolves when they reached manhood. Only when a cold one was near would they return. The cold ones always came in one or two so the pack stayed small with 3 wolves until a bigger coven of cold ones came along. _

_The leader of the vampire coven spoke to the tribal leader and Alpha wolf, Ephraim Black as if he were a man and promised not to harm the Quileutes. His strange yellow eyes gave proof of this, and a treaty was offered to the tribe even though there was no need—they outnumbered the wolves and could have won easily if they fought. Ephraim accepted and the coven's numbers forced a larger pack than before. Over the years, the coven left and returned to Forks always kept true to their word and did not harm the tribe. It was Carlisle Cullen was the one who talked to Ephraim and made the promise. _

_Over time, our enemies have disappeared. But one still remains: cold ones, vampires. Our warriors can still feel the threat of their presence in their blood and in their bones. The legend of the spirit warrior shall live on for eternity. We shall remember them as great heroes forevermore._

_0o0o0o0o_

"Wow. That was absolutely amazing," Bella whispered. Jacob nodded slightly.

"Ephraim Black was my grandfather," he said. "It's always been in my blood to phase."

She stilled. "Do you not like phasing?" she asked him. He stared into the roaring fire, eyes faraway.

"The council thinks it's some great honor to phase. Since the line died off after my grandfather Ephraim, they thought that there were no more Quileute shapeshifters. That's why my dad's not part of the pack." Jacob explained. "When Sam phased, the council was thrilled."

Bella nodded. "It's a huge responsibility, isn't it?"

"Huge," he agreed. "I never thought I'd imprint."

She watched as Pepper got up and tugged Seth over to the refreshments table for a Pepsi. She shot him a sideways glance, the corners of her lips tugged up into a smile. "I never thought I'd be imprinted on."

He cracked a smile back at her, but then quickly looked down at his feet. "When I was younger, I didn't want to imprint. I thought that it was taking away our choices. And I'd have to live in fear of breaking my girlfriend's heart if I just went out some place and saw some random chick and imprinted on her."

She paused and licked her lips, staring deeply into the fire as if she were trying to read words spelled out on the burning logs of firewood. "I mean, that makes sense. When did you imprint on me?"

Jacob laughed, remembering. "It was the night you hit me with your truck. You helped me into the passenger seat and were chatting away about this tea and honey shop on the Res. I was really, really annoyed. I looked over at you and I was about to tell you to shut up—my arm hurt like hell—and you locked eyes with me. I screamed and you thought that you killed me." He laughed again. "Not really. You didn't kill me, you made me _live_ again."

Bella's face reddened. "Wow, that…that's amazing."

He fiddled with his hands in his lap. "I already told you that I wasn't good with women or dating. I would always hurt the ones closest to me…but when I met you, sunshine, I swore to myself that I'd never hurt you."

She beamed at him, a glow so bright that it almost blinded him. "I guess they call you guys protectors for a reason."

He folded her to his chest with one arm. "Yeah, I guess they do. Who's afraid of the big bad wolf?"

"Not sunshine."

He laughed again. "That's good."

"Yes."

He buried his nose in her hair. She smiled and snuggled against his chest. Suddenly his body jerked and he slid away from her. He held his nose, his eyes bewildered. She was mortified, thinking that she smelled horrible.

"What's the matter?" she asked.

"Did you spray perfume?" he questioned frantically.

She gulped. "No, do I smell?"

He nodded. "Bella, I want you to tell me exactly where you went today."

She gave him a funny look. "Jacob, what's going on? I don't understand. If I smell like shit, just tell me."

"It's not you, and you don't smell like shit. Trust me…but I need to know where you were today." Jacob obviously wasn't playing around here.

She tapped her nails on the log. "Um…I went to the grocery store this morning for ingredients for chicken wings."

"Who did you talk to?" he demanded.

She searched her mind. "Uh, uh…this one guy named Riley followed me down the aisles. Really nice guy, but I told him I was taken. Persistent though, he was persistent."

"_Riley."_ Jacob repeated the name a few times, trying it out on his tongue. "Describe this Riley to me exactly. Don't leave out a single detail."

She blinked. "Why am I doing this?"

"Just do it. Please."

Bella closed her eyes and instantly Riley's picture came up. "He was somewhat tall—taller than me, but shorter than you. I'd say about 5'9. He was pale with chestnut brown hair and golden eyes. They were almost brown, but seemed more gold to me. I dunno, maybe it was the lighting in the store. Oh, and he also had a really prominent cleft chin."

Jacob chewed his lip. "Did he touch you? Was he cold to the touch?"

She nodded. "Actually yes. But why does it matter? It was cold in that store."

He began to shake, steam rolling off of his skin. "Why was he there. What was he buying? Tell me."

"Pickles, mayonnaise, poppy seed bread…?"

"Anything unusual!" he half shouted. "Was there anything unusual?"

"Oh!" she gasped, holding up a hand. "He bought three containers of pig's blood. He said he worked at a vet's place or something and they were doing testing on vampire bats."

Jacob shook his head. "Now there's some bullshit. Excuse me, honey, but I need to go talk to the guys." He bolted off of the log.

She pumped her legs as hard as she could to catch up to him. "Wait!" she hissed, grabbing him by the arm. "I want you to tell me what's going on. Now."

He slid his arm out of her grasp. "All things will be explained with time. I really need to discuss some things with the guys. Find out more about this Riley."

"Are you afraid of Riley or something? C'mon Jake, that's ridiculous. He's not a vampire." Bella scolded.

Jake whirled around. "You are my imprint. It's my responsibility to keep you safe, and I definitely can't have you hanging around our enemies. They're not safe, no matter how nice they come off as." Smoke seemed to flow out of his ears.

Bella wheeled back a little by the dominant tone of his voice. "So I'm your responsibility now?"

His shoulders drooped and he sighed in exasperation. "No Bella, I didn't mean it like that at all. But trust me when I say that you don't want to end up in the hands of a vampire."

A strong gust of wind swept through the trees, pushing her hair into her eyes. Jacob stepped forwards, pushing her bangs out of her eyes. "How do you know he's a vampire?" she asked softly, leaning her cheek into his warm hand. She was instantly soothed by his presence.

"I don't," he replied softly. "That's why I need to talk to the guys. We'll probably start running more patrols around your house. Remember the child that attacked you? Vampire. I killed it because I picked up the trace of sickeningly sweet scent while patrolling around your house."

She looked up at him under thick black lashes. "I don't want to be a burden. I may come off as weak and helpless, but I'm not. I've got my rifle in my living room and a metal baseball bat under my bed."

He dropped his hand, shoving it inside of his jean pocket. His face took on a whole different demeanor. "A rifle nor metal baseball bat would fend off a vampire. They're like zombies, Bella. You virtually can't kill them."

She grasped his fingers. "And I suppose they'll eat my brains too?"

"Maybe."

Bella sniffed a laugh. "Alright, then. Go talk to your men about Riley, who is assuredly not a vampire. Then you hurry back to me because I'll feel lonely if you're gone too long."

He leaned down and kissed the tip of her nose. "You have my word, sunshine."

0o0o0o0o0o

**Dear Readers,**

**I read all of your reviews. Those readers who don't review make the inner wolf in me howl. Those who do review are remembered and greatly appreciated. I've got some sugar in store for those who review. So review again, my darlings, and tell me how hot I am and how much you love me—because I love you all too.**

**Sincerely Yours,**

_**Jacob Black**_


	14. Chapter 14

**Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews. You all are awesome people! I really hope you guys enjoy this one…because I really enjoyed writing it. Here's my late Easter gift to all of you guys. (:**

**Warning: This chapter is rated M. If you aren't 18, turn back while you can. I don't want to spoil your innocence lol. **

**Song: Bad Things by Jace Everett**

**Chapter Fourteen:**

Since the bonfire last night, Bella had been really, really interested in learning more about the Quileutes and their histories with the cold ones. She took it upon herself to look up a book on Google and was pleased to find that she could buy the book for ten dollars at a local bookstore at Port Angeles.

She punched off the radio in her truck and grabbed her purse. She had about fifty dollars in there just in case anything else snagged her eye. The _Thunderbird and Whale Bookstore_ was located on top of a tall hill, with steps leading up to it. It was a cute little shop. She pulled her blue umbrella from her purse and pushed it open, for there was a little bit of rain that morning. There was really nothing new there.

Bella climbed each slippery step with carefulness—she didn't want to break her two front teeth out and cause poor Jacob pain. She chuckled to herself, keeping her eyes down to her feet to watch where she was going.

Finally Bella reached the top of the stairs and while standing underneath the porch, put away her umbrella and fluffed up her wet and matted down hair. The door chimed as she entered and a Native man looked up at her from behind the counter. He had long black hair with small black eyes. He smiled nicely.

"Hach ch'i." The man spoke. "Good morning."

"Hach ch'i to you too," Bella replied with a smile. The man nodded vigorously as if to say that she had great Quileute pronunciation.

She opened a crumbled piece of paper that she'd stuffed inside the purse and read off the name of the book. The author's last name was 'N', so she traveled to the 'N' section. It was a small bookstore, and it didn't take her long to find the correct last name.

She ran her fingers along the spines of the books, feeling the dust come off onto her fingers.

"Quileute legends?"

She jumped twelve feet into the air, her heart fluttering into her throat. "Holy moly! You scared the absolute daylights out of me."

He smiled crookedly at her, perfectly straight white teeth blinding her. "Sorry about that. I didn't mean to frighten you…again. I guess I just have a way of sneaking up on people without them noticing." He waved the book in front of her face. "I found what you were looking for. It was right under your nose, silly."

She took the book from him and looked at him with cautious eyes. Riley wore a forest green hoodie that had the sleeves cut off. He was lean and muscular, the ridges of his form showing from under his hoodie. He wore jeans and casual shoes, his brown hair swept off to the side.

"Thank you…" she whispered, never peeling her eyes from him as she took the book. She turned on her heel to go and buy it.

He caught her by the arm, whirling her around to face him. His frantic black eyes searched hers as he thought hard for something to say to her. "Wait…it was really nice seeing you. You made my day about ten times brighter."

The more she looked at him, the more she noticed his eyes. _Wait, weren't they golden at the grocery store?_ "Okay." She didn't know what to say to that.

"Stay?" he half begged, half asked her. "Just a little while. You're the only person I know in Forks." He shoved his hands inside of his pockets.

Bella bit her lip and cast her eyes towards his feet. "Did you just move here or something?"

He shook his head. "No, I live in Oregon. Oregon City, to be exact. I'm just visiting, getting away from home. I figured Forks would be a good place to start."

She gave him a funny look and laughed softly. "Forks is so bland. Why would you want to visit here?"

Riley shrugged his shoulders and gave another crooked smile. "I heard some pretty cool stories about this place."

She looked up at him. "How old are you?"

"Er, I'm about twenty. And you?"

"Twenty as well. I'm turning twenty one in September, though."

"August." He grinned. "I'm a month older than you, Bella."

She nodded absently. "What are you doing in Port Angeles? Did you rent a place near here?"

Riley nodded his head. "Yeah, it's just down the road. I was bored and I saw this place, so I figured…why not?"

"You're interested in Quileute books?" she questioned, holding up her own book. "And the legends?"

"Sure," he agreed. "They've got some pretty wild tales in there. My personal favorite's the one about the spirit warriors and the cold ones. Taha Aki and that Utapla dude."

She snickered. "Ut_lapa_?"

He flashed her a smile. "Utlapa. Sorry."

"I…I, um, like that one too."

"Hey listen! You wanna stop by my place for a little while? I've got some pizza over there. We could eat then go see a movie or something."

She burned red, her eyes wild with distrust and uncertainty. "I…_Riley_."

He took his hands out of his jean pockets and braced himself on the bookshelves. "I know, I know. You've got a boyfriend. I don't even have a chance do I?"

"No."

"Damn," he smiled weakly. "Should've gotten here earlier, huh?"

She chuckled nervously, kind of feeling bad for the guy. "I've gotta go." She unfolded her wad of cash and began to carry the money and the book towards the friendly Indian man at the counter. Riley grabbed a book on the Quileute legends and started after her.

"Bell—" he started to say, but she held up her finger for him to wait as she spoke with the man behind the cash register. He waited. Waiting was one of his pastimes.

"Thank you, sir," she finished up, carrying the newly bought book out of the store.

Riley threw a wad of cash at the cashier and gave a swift nod before darting out the door behind her. "Bella!" he called. She stopped and turned, giving her attention to him. "At least let me drive you home."

She nodded her head towards her rusty red vehicle sitting down two flights of stairs. "I've got my truck," she told him, squinting in the daylight. "But thanks anyways."

He burned in the sunlight, flipping on his shades and popping up his hoodie. He stepped back into the shadows, nodding. "Okay. I'll see you later then, won't I?"

She shrugged and began to make her way down the steps. "I don't know."

"I hope so. I really like you, Bella Swan. You're like a ray of sunshine—you brighten my day, that's for sure." Riley called after her.

Her big brown eyes widened and she sped up a little bit. What was with people saying that she made their days brighter like sunshine? Weird.

0o0o0o0o0o

She was fresh out of the shower; her hair was wet and her skin was smelling like sweet vanilla. Bella flew up the stairs quickly, dropping her white bath towel to the floor and letting the cool breeze flowing in from the window hit her naked flesh. She put her iPod on the speakers and clicked her most listened to song.

_When you came in the air went out_

_And every shadow filled up with doubt_

_I don't know who you think you are_

_But before the night is through_

_I wanna do bad things with you_

She stood at the window, gazing out at her backyard. It was the afternoon, and she'd taken some time away from her busy schedule to pamper herself. She did her nails, took a shower, and made herself a hot cup of tea.

The creaking floor boards behind her made her jump and for a millisecond she looked over her shoulder, catching a flash of russet brown before she turned back to the window. She clutched the windowsill tightly, her knuckles turning white and her eyes widening.

Then she flew around, catching Jacob standing at the top of the stairs, open mouthed and heated. "Shit!" she screeched, grabbing her white towel off of her bed and scrambling into the counter.

_I'm the kind to sit up in his room_

_Heart sick and eyes filled up with blue_

_I don't know what you've done to me _

_But I know this much is true_

_I wanna do bad things with you_

Jacob seemed to break free from his trance, shaking his head and going a little red in the face. "Jeez, I'm sorry sunshine. I missed you, and decided to come visit…I didn't know you were up here naked!"

"Close your eyes," she whimpered, clutching at her chest and crossing her legs self-consciously. "Please?"

He didn't close your eyes. In fact, he did the exact opposite of what she wanted him to do. He advanced, sitting on the corner of her bed. "I love this song," he remarked. "Jace Everett." Then he sang along with the words. "_When you came in the air went out. And all those shadows there filled up with doubt.."_

He extended a hand towards her shivering frame in the corner and waved her over. "C'mere, sunshine."

She didn't comply. He gulped, pushing back his hair, glancing around the room. "I should get changed."

"Go ahead," he murmured, his deep brown eyes burning holes into her skin. She shuddered and shielded her eyes with a curtain of her hair. "But you won't right? Not if I'm here?"

She rubbed her arms and sucked on her bottom lip. His shoulders slumped. Then he did something she didn't expect. He tore off his gray tee shirt and flung it onto her pillow. "What are you doing?" she hissed at him.

He stood; never taking his eyes off of her, and began to unbutton his shorts. Then he slid them down his muscular legs. All that was there were tight black boxers and a whole lot of _man._ "We need to be comfortable in our skin. I don't care about being naked around you. I love you. I'm comfortable around you. You should be comfortable around me."

Bella gave him a look, only clutching her towel tighter. She swore that her heart was beating a mile a minute. His fingers dipped below the waistband of his black boxers and inched them down a little. She gasped.

_I don't know who you think you are_

_But before the night is through_

He stilled, biting his lip and concentrating hard on something. "Bella, can I ask you a serious question?"

She nodded, breathlessly. "O-okay."

He leaned forward on one knee, his fingertips skirting across her bare leg and reaching her knees. He pushed the towel down into her lap, those warm hands traveling over her thighs. "Have you ever been pleasured by a man?"

_I wanna do bad things with you_

"No," she answered instantly, squirming in her place. "I have not."

Jacob leaned back on his haunches and took her all in. "I've been having dreams, Bella."

"Okay." She didn't know what to say to him. The whole situation was absolutely crazy.

"You lay squirming beneath me, moaning my name as my lips…my lips are every where on your skin. There wouldn't be a place on your body that I wouldn't kiss," he murmured, his deep bass rumbling in her ears.

_I wanna do __**real**__ bad things with you._

Bella's eyelids fluttered. She'd never experienced something so sexually stimulating in her life, and he wasn't even touching her. Yet. "Okay."

His hands were on her thighs again, and they were quickly traveling up. "Bella…" His fingertips reached her hips, thumbs dangerously close to her folds. "Let me touch you. Let me pleasure you. I want you to experience—"

She suddenly jerked away from him, leaving his hands to hit the carpet as she scrambled farther away. "Jake, I'm nervous. I don't think that I can do this."

He inched a little closer. "Okay. Okay, I understand that you're nervous because you're a virgin and you've never been with a man like this, but you have to believe me that you won't be regretting it. That is, if you let me."

She burned a deep red color. "Jake…"

He chewed his lip, lifting an eyebrow. "Do you touch yourself, Bella?" he asked. She gasped and burned even a deeper shade of red. "Answer me honestly."

She shrugged her shoulders, spluttering and blinking rapidly. "I mean…sometimes I do. It's rare."

He touched his big hands to his pecks, nodding his head. "I can give you an orgasm that will blow your mind. Imagine what your fingers can do to yourself, then multiply that by ten."

"I don't…" she didn't know how to finish the sentence.

"Are you trying to tell me that you don't want me?" He tilted his head back and laughed loudly. "Because don't even bother trying to lie to me. I can smell everything. I can smell how much you want me, that sweet nectar just dripping between your legs and wetting your panties. I can smell all the hormones, baby."

She gasped loudly, her eyes widening.

"That's right," he grinned. Then he grabbed himself. "I want you too. But we'll get to him later. Right now it's you—only you."

Jacob approached her slowly, pressing his hot and heavy body against hers. He buried his face in her hair, inhaling the sweet vanilla and her arousal. It was a dizzying combination. His lips framed her jaw line, licking and nibbling softly. His bulky arms wrapped around her tiny waist, and pulled her pelvis up against his. He kissed her hard as he ground his hips against her sweet spot.

She broke the kiss and let out a hoarse cry, tiny fingers clutching at his russet skin. "Oh Jake," she moaned. He did it again, making her cry out again. He cradled her head in his gigantic hand and gently smacked a wet kiss to her lips.

"That's right," he said, voice filled with lust. "Soon you'll be calling me _God_ instead of Jacob." It always went from _Oh Jacob,_ to _Oh my God!_

He smirked as he picked her up off the ground in one swift movement and slammed her down onto the soft bed before she even had time to register. "Oh!" she cried out. With one strong hand, he snatched away the towel and chucked it into the corner of the room.

Her hands instantly went to her breasts and other areas of exposed skin. He noticed this and quickly snapped her hands away, nipping at her neck as he pinned her arms above her head. "Don't do that," he murmured. "Don't hide your beauty for me."

She moaned as his mouth latched onto her nipples, one hand leaving her wrists to knead the other breast. "I can tell you've done this before," she said almost sadly. He noticed the change in demeanor.

His head snapped up and he kissed her lips quickly, his tongue swashing against hers. "The past is the past. I can't change what I've done, or who I was. The most important thing was that _you_ changed me. And all that matters right now is _you._"

When she didn't say anything, he ducked his head back down and latched onto her pearly pink nipple again. She moaned again. Suddenly he began to kiss down her body, between the valley of her breasts, down her stomach, and to her navel. He dipped his tongue into her belly button, his palms splaying over her pelvic bones.

He went a little lower, smacking a kiss to the skin between her womanhood and navel. "Do you trust me?" he asked. She propped herself up onto her elbows and stared at him, eyes wide. Breathlessly, she nodded.

"Yeah."

Not needing another command, he went to work on her. With one palm, he pushed her back onto the bed. He gave one soft lick over the slick folds, hearing a surprised gasp emitting from her mouth. He grinned to himself before parting her folds with his thumbs.

She was perfect, tight and virginal, and all his. So he licked her from her entrance to her clit. She gasped in shock and with her hand, tugged on his thick black locks. _She wanted more. _He groaned, flattening his tongue for a wider range, and licked her from bottom to top again. She shuddered in his grasp, gasping and moaning uncontrollably.

His lips latched onto her clit, sucking the little bud into his mouth and massaging it with his tongue. He darted his tongue in and out before sucking hard again, this time moaning, the deep vibrations going right to the sensitive little nub.

She moaned the loudest on that one. He kissed down to her entrance, thrusting his tongue into the tightness. He felt her warm walls contract on his slimy appendage as she tried to stay stable.

Her hand clawed at his hair, nearly tugging the black strands out of their roots. "Oh my _God_!" she cried aloud. He grinned to himself again. She was close, and he was going to get her there.

He put his lips back onto her clit, and inserted a finger into her slick heat. She gasped out from the invasion, but as soon as his finger started to massage her g-spot, she calmed. He inserted another, stretching her out a little.

Jacob pumped his fingers in and out of her quickly, the wetness making a squelching noise as he jammed them in and pulled them out again. "You like that, honey?"

She moaned and nodded her head quickly. His lips pleasured her clit, moaning as his fingers did magic below. "Oh fuck," he moaned. "So tight."

His tongue flicked out to lick the little bud several times in a row, making her arch her back and grasp the sheets. She moaned and her body convulsed as her orgasm washed over her.

He pulled out his fingers and licked up every single drop of her cum, savoring the sweet taste. She gasped and then sighed, shaking with the orgasm aftershock. He pulled away, lips glossed in cum and hair disheveled. It was the hottest thing Bella had ever seen.

She closed her legs when she fully regained her consciousness and sat up. She watched him slip on his shorts while smirking sexily at her. "So…do tell me. How was it?"

She fell back against the pillows again, unable to answer. He laughed and kissed the inside of her thigh. "I'm glad that I could have been the one to give that to you," he said, smiling softly. "I love you."

Bella glanced at him from under her elbow and smiled widely. "I love you too." She watched him search out his shirt. "Where are you going?"

"Sam." He pointed to his temple. "I have to be at patrol in twenty minutes."

She glanced at the rock hard bulge in his pants. "What about you?"

He stopped searching for the shirt, turning slowly to look at her. The muscles in his cheek tensed and he swallowed thickly. "We'll…we'll get to that later."

She handed him his shirt that was lying on her pillow. "Here."

He grabbed the shirt and kissed her tenderly on the lips. "Meet me at Emily's later, we're all having dinner there."

"M'kay."

"Fuck, you're so sexy."

She laughed. "Get out—go patrol, you animal."

He growled playfully at her. "Expect more later." With that, he stomped down the stairs. She leaned over the side of the railing and called down to him.

"Thank you," she said.

He looked up at her and winked. "That's what wolves do to their ladies. _All_ the _time_. It's no big deal."

0o0o0o0o

**Jacob licks his lips and undresses in your bedroom, too. Then he pushes you down onto the bed and kisses your jaw, whispering for you to _"Review."_**


	15. Chapter 15

**Author's Note: Hi! Thanks for all of the nice comments. Here's another chapter, and I apologize for its shortness. Love you all!  
**

**The BOLD italics are a flashback from what **_**Harry Clearwater had said in the previous chapters. **__The italics are what Emily previously said in this chapter._

**Chapter Fifteen:**

She was at Emily's for dinner, sitting at the table next to Seth and Pepper (because Pepper insisted so dearly) and eating her chicken and mashed potatoes. Emily really knew how to make a meal. Jake had told her to meet him here, but it was fifteen minutes past the beginning of the dinner and he still hadn't arrived.

Emily was busy in the kitchen, and Sam was stuck to her side like a child. Kim was too busy practically feeding Jared to even notice her sitting in the corner, so she was ultimately stuck with the babies of the pack.

"It's good, isn't it?" Pepper asked with her mouth full. She stabbed at the broccoli florets greedily, stuffing them into her mouth like she only had five more minutes left to eat. "Emily's amazing."

Bella nodded and shot Seth a glance. He didn't see it; he was too busy looking upon his savagely mate to see Bella's distaste. "Hey," Embry nudged her as he sat down with his plate of food. "Why so quiet, sunshine?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. He's not here yet."

Embry rolled his eyes. "Jake's always fashionably late, don't take it personal. He'll come. Don't worry." He shoveled a forkful of chicken into his mouth. "S'good. When am I gonna see you in the kitchen?"

Bella laughed and shrugged. "Maybe soon," she replied. "I'll make some stew."

Embry ceased to chew, his eyes widening. "Wait—is that the legendary rabbit stew that Jake raved about?"

She gave him a funny look. "What legendary stew?"

"The sort of date," Embry said, as if it were a no-brainer.

"Oh." She chewed her lip and poked around her meal with her fork. "I didn't know you knew about that."

"These guys gossip like girls," Emily chucked softly as she came in from the other room with the last plate of food. Sam set his plate down next to hers at the table and pulled her chair out of her. "Especially when it comes to the topic of girls."

A chorus of grunts sounded in agreement. "Girls," Brady said adoringly.

"Leah," Collin blurted, his eyes going all goo-goo.

"Freak," Jared laughed, and smashed Collin's buttered bread into his face. The whole table laughed as the younger boy grimaced and wiped the butter off of his face with a napkin.

The door slammed in the background and everyone instantly quieted down. In strode Jacob, with his sexy swagger and black leather jacket. "Sorry I'm late," he said, his voice so deep and heavenly. "It was a long day at the Garage."

Embry stood and did some weird guy hug where their fists collided and they smashed their chests together. Jacob slapped him on the back. "Alright man," he whispered. "Get out of my seat."

"Shit. Yeah." Embry replied, scrambling away to move his plate next to Paul. Jacob sat down in the empty chair next to Bella and smacked a noisy kiss to her cheek. Her face got bright red as she heard someone coo, "Aww."

They hugged before he hung his jacket on the back of the chair. Emily pushed him a plate and Jacob dug in. "Mmm, good," he praised. As he inhaled the food, he kept shooting her little sideways glances and smirking.

She felt like she was being eye-fucked.

The whole table was abuzz with chatter and eating and laughing. She felt his warm, heavy hand on her thigh. She felt herself become slightly aroused at his touch. She shifted in her seat and cleared her throat. "So how was the Garage?" she questioned, trying to get her mind off of how much she subconsciously wanted him to touch her again.

"Good," he replied. "Had to fix a nice red Cadillac. It was a nice vehicle, but it had a really shitty motor. Replaced that and had that baby roaring real nice and smooth."

She nodded and ate more of her chicken. "Ever since you fixed my truck, it's been running perfectly."

He grinned at her and shrugged his shoulders. "Guess I have that magic touch, sunshine."

She blushed bright red and bit her lip. Jacob looked down at his plate and shut his eyes tightly. "Damn," he whispered. Suddenly, the table fell silent. Brady and Collin looked pleasantly surprised, grinning widely with eyes like saucers. Seth and Embry's mouths fell open in shock. Quil, Jared and Paul began to laugh and punch Jacob's shoulders playfully. Sam coughed uncomfortably next to Emily, who looked at him like he had ten heads.

Pepper, Emily, Kim, and Bella all looked at them in confusion. "Alright man!" Paul laughed.

"Hot," Brady breathed. Then he whispered something to Collin who blushed even brighter and nodded his head vigilantly.

Jacob was fuming at the end of the table, steam rolling off of his skin. She touched his arm and she instantly yanked her finger away. He'd been so hot that he'd burned her fingertip. Still he refused to look at her.

She began to wonder what happened.

_These guys gossip like girls. Especially when it comes to the topic of girls._

_**When the spirit warriors left their bodies, their minds were all connected with each other. This is why our spirit warriors can communicate through the pack mind to this day.**_

Bella's face went bright red and she was instantly horrified. "Jake?" she questioned, and he glanced apologetically down at her.

She looked back down at her plate. "I'll be right back." She felt like she was going to be sick. They all watched her leave the table. Jacob groaned before starting after her.

"Bella, wait! Please let me explain."

"There's nothing to explain," she said in exasperation, leaning over the sink and letting her hair hide her face. "They saw it. Everything. Me in my most vulnerable state…"

He touched his simmering fingertips to her shoulders. "Sunshine," he began.

She whirled around and pushed him away in anger. "Don't call me that!" she hissed. "Because right now, I'm not your sunshine. In fact, I'm far from sunshine."

He groaned. "Bella, wait. I can't help what the guys see. It slips."

Her face grew even redder. "Then maybe I won't fool around with you anymore if you can't control your thoughts!"

"No!" he quickly replied, shaking his head. "No, no, we don't need to do that. All the guys have thoughts about that kind of stuff. Do you know the embarrassing things we've seen about the imprints? I've seen Paul bend my older sister over and fuck her like a randy stallion. I've seen Jared tie Kim up against the bed posts naked. I've seen Sam give oral to Emily countless times!"

She gasped and covered her mouth with her hand in shock. "Oh my gosh," she whispered.

"Yeah," he laughed humorlessly. "That's not all either. I've seen Leah touch herself at night. You know how Collin has a crush on Leah? Well after seeing that, the kid nearly fainted. Imagine how horrible that would be for Seth to watch—his own sister. And now since Pepper's a part of the imprint group, we now know how fast Seth's really worked on her."

She didn't say anything. She just stared at him in bewilderment. "That…that's normal then?"

He leaned against the bathroom wall and nodded his head. "More than normal. The fourteen year olds, Brady and Collin have seen more sex than I did when I was fourteen. And you know how young guys are…they watch _porn_."

She grimaced. "The fact that the guys could see me naked when you're gonna be doing me will stick in the back of my mind _forever, _trust me."

Jacob smirked and leaned forward a little. "So you're saying that you'll let me do you then? Maybe later?"

"You suck." Bella beat him with her tiny fists and he began to laugh. "They can probably hear us."

"They probably didn't listen," he assured her. "They're most likely stuffing food down their throats."

He opened the door and gestured for her to walk out before he did. She could see from afar that they were all eating their food and chatting. But when she walked into the room with Jacob following her, they all fell silent.

Emily cleared her throat. "You alright, Bella?"

She nodded her head.

"Jake?" Sam spoke up.

He nodded his head absently and sat down next to her at the table. "Thought she was gonna get sick," he whispered. "You know how it feels when you think something's wrong."

All the guys nodded, looking down at their plates. Paul snorted and was instantly punched in the arm by Embry. "That means shut up, asswipe," he hissed at the hotheaded wolf coldly.

0o0o0o0o

He stared at her from across the couch, watching the way the firelight flickered on and off of her ivory skin. She sipped her hot tea, sweet pink lips touching the rim of the fragile china mug. "Mmm," she whispered. "Warms me. Just like you."

He smirked and stared into the fire. It was late and awfully dark outside. It wasn't raining for once, and he was glad that he could smell the fresh Washington breeze float through her open windows.

Jacob had nearly sacked her sister's fiancé before the end of the night due to all of the comments about him and Bella. They'd decided to leave Emily's meal a little early for the sake of time.

Another round of oral had taken them to the couch. She wasn't so reluctant to have him touch her this time, but it took him a few tries for the idea to finally get into her head. He wanted his mouth there, in the junction of her thighs, his tongue tasting her like the sweetest dessert.

She'd tugged at his jeans suggestively, telling him that she knew what to do because she'd seen it in movies, but he'd shaken his head for he knew that once he whipped it out, there'd be no stopping his wolf from taking over the human aspect of him and mounting her like an animal.

He folded his arms across his naked chest and glanced away from the fire and back to her again. "I had a great time tonight. As always."

She nodded her head and lifted the mug to her lips again. "Me too. You and your magic mouth and leaky mind."

Jacob chuckled. "Sorry about the leaky mind thing again, sunshine."

She waved him off. "It must be both normal and disturbing for the guys to see various naked women whenever one of the guys decided to have sex."

"Yup," he chortled. "You're 100 percent right."

[Jake, you're late. I told you to be here by nine. It's nine thirty.] – Sam

_I must have lost track of time. Besides, there hasn't been a vamp on the Res for weeks now._

[We've got to always be cautious. Patrolling is something I take very seriously. And if I ever planned to give the title of Alpha up to you, you'd better be taking it seriously too. So get your act and your ass and bring it down to Em's.] – Sam

[Yeah, she made banana muffins. Good huh, Jake?] – Seth

[God, shut the fuck up Seth. You are such a pussy sometimes.] – Paul

_Leave him alone, Paul. I've seen how you let Rachel tie you to a chair and use her little whip to smack your wolfy ass red._

[AHAHAHA, I can't take it! The picture's still in my mind, Jake.] – Quil

[How could we forget pussy Paul?] – Jared

[That's fucking priceless.] – Quil

[Yeah, that's funny Ateara. At least I get pussy. Your imprint's fucking two years old. Pedo-bear much?] – Paul

[More like pedo-wolf!] – Brady

_Why the fuck is everyone in wolf form?_

[We're all waiting for you to get your ass down to Emily's.] – Embry

[And I'm stalking you in the woods. Hope you're not eating her sugartits again, Black. That was certainly a sight.] – Jared

[She had a nice, virgin pussy, unlike Kim.] – Paul

_Don't talk about Bella like that! Or better yet, get the fuck out of my head._

[What's wrong with Kim's?!] – Jared

[Hell, what isn't wrong with it?] – Paul

Jacob tried his best to push away the dirty thoughts of the other pack members. She was snoring lightly on the couch, the empty tea mug against her belly. He blinked. Shit. How long was he in la-wolf-la land?

He got up from his place on the couch and scooped her up in his arms, setting her tea mug on the coffee table. He carried her all the way up the stairs and tucked her into bed, planting a gentle kiss to her temple before retreating down the stairs.

[She looks like an angel.] – Collin

_Fuck off, kid._

[I'm surprised you're not gay. I mean for starters, you have this weird-ass crush on Leah.] – Paul

[Hey! That's my _sister_!] – Seth

[Hey! I _fuck _Jake's _sister_!] – Paul

_God, if I get my hands on you tonight, you'll be scattered around 500 different parts of Forks fucking Washington. It would take a fucking army to put you back together._

[C'mon Black. Don't make threats you don't intend to keep.] – Paul

He put out her fire before exiting her house and stepping out onto the front porch and phasing. He raced quickly to the darkening tree line.

_Who said I didn't intend to keep it?_

0o0o0o0o

He watched her sleep. He couldn't help but smile. She was so beautiful and so perfect. She was a spitfire, and that little spitfire sure could pack a big punch. She was a shrimp of a girl, but she was a real woman inside.

That night, he had a bad case of insomnia (like every night when he had too many things to do) and watching her calmed him down for a few minutes. He picked up the beautiful red shirt laying in a heap on her bedroom floor and smelled it.

She smelled like vanilla blossoms and sunbeams, like his own personal slice of heaven. Even though the closest he'd ever be to fucking heaven was _her._ She was a good puzzle piece, and she was the last puzzle piece he needed to complete his whole picture.

He was determined to get rid of all of his competition with his brothers at his side. He clutched the red shirt and opened up her window again. He decided he would take the shirt, to remember her during the night.

He would see her again tomorrow, but he wanted to take every slice of heaven he could before crawling back to hell. His work was endless, tiring and difficult. He didn't always like what he did, but he was a leader. He'd always been a leader. It was in his blood to lead, ever since he was born. Hell, his great-great grandfather was a lord, a leader as well.

He slipped expertly out of the window and hit the ground with ease. With Bella's shirt in his hand, he walked towards the forest, taking his heaven with him.

0o0o0o0o

**Jacob wants you to review, because reviews are lovely and he'll cry if you don't. Don't be a horrible person and make Jacob cry!**

**REVIEW**

**(or the crying will ensue. Nooooo): )**


	16. Chapter 16

**Author's Note: Yeah, sorry about the length of the last chapter. I know I suck. 'Nuff said.  
**

**Warning: This chapter is explicit. (;**

**The song that Bella uses is called "Little House" by Amanda Seyfried. It's an amazing song, and I totally recommend listening to it!  
**

**Chapter 16:**

She was walking through the forest in blue jeans, and a lilac sweater. Last night the temperature had dropped with the passing rainstorm. She stuffed her hands into her jean pockets and stepped over a wet shrub. The forest was wonderful when she needed a place to just wind down and think.

She hopped onto a fallen tree's trunk and then jumped down from it. In the clearing there was a small meadow with beautiful heathers and wildflowers littering the sweet grass. She slung her backpack off of her shoulder and walked to the middle of the meadow.

Bella usually didn't come to the meadow, or climb this far up the mountain. She remembered that the last time she'd been up there was in her junior year of high school. The little secluded place hadn't changed a bit. While the rest of the forest was dark and wet, the meadow was enriched with sunlight and warm.

She sat down and folded her legs, tilting her head towards the sunlight. The warm rays hit her pale cheeks and she smiled. Looking back down at her backpack, she unzipped it and pulled out a notepad and paper.

She began to scribble down her thoughts into a poem, then eventually put it to her acoustic guitar. No one knew that she knew how to play the acoustic guitar but her. It'd been a year since she'd played it, but the overwhelming happiness that she'd been getting ever since Jacob came around inspired her to write again.

The past months were hard. Depression, loneliness, and isolation wasn't exactly easy to deal with.

_I love this place_

_But it's haunted without you_

It was a start. She tapped her pencil against her chin and squinted her eyes into the forest as if she were searching for the right lyrics in the trees. "Ah!" she exclaimed.

_My tired heart is beating so slow_

_Our hearts sing less than we wanted_

_We wanted our hearts to sing_

'_Cause we do not know, we do not know_

She was on a roll. She erased a stray mark on her paper and began to think of a chorus. She scrunched her eyes and thought of him. Things that reminded her of him.

_To light the night_

As her personal sun.

_To help us grow, to help us grow_

As a person, as one who was loved.

_It is not said, I always know_

He loved her.

She set down her pencil and thought again. And the thought came easily to her as she thought of the day in the Garage with him and how she fell over the crack in the cement.

_You can catch me_

The memories of him catching her clumsy, fragile body raced through her mind. She grinned and tapped the eraser of the pencil to her lips before putting the tip to the paper again.

_Don't you run, don't you run_

That line was more directed towards her. The rain scene, the mud fight. She wasn't going to run from her feelings anymore.

_If you live another day in this happy little house_

_The fire's here to stay_

Him and her in the cabin, the flame of desire undying.

She decided to insert the chorus there and start a new line of text. The lines came easy to her this time as she spewed out beautiful words like a fountain.

_Please don't make a fuss_

_It won't go away_

_The wonder of it all_

_The wonder that I made_

_I am here to stay_

It was undeniably true.

_I am here to stay_

_Stay._

She sighed and put down her pencil and notepad. It was done, and it was done quick. Overhead, the sky darkened and thunder rumbled. "Shit," she mumbled. "Not again."

She grabbed her backpack and raced down the mountain quickly. She didn't want to get caught in the rain. The forecast called for nice weather that evening, but she was apparently wrong.

0o0o0o0o

"You scared the absolute shit out of me. What the hell are you doing in my house?" she laughed, setting her bag down on the table and running into his arms.

"I'm making sure my sunshine's still shining," he whispered, his fingers stroking her hair gently.

She chuckled. "I'm sure that's not the only reason why you're here." He pulled back and gave her a look. "I heard that oral wasn't good enough for you, eh?"

He blinked. "Who told you that?"

"Pepper texts me constantly," she told him. "It might have slipped out about how much Seth sees that you think about me…in positions…"

He gulped and shuffled nervously beside her. Bella's eyes trailed downwards and she saw the rock hard bulge that was straining in his jeans. "I didn't mean…"

She placed her hand on his hot cheek and wrapped her fingers around his neck, bringing him closer to her. He laid his head on her breast while she kissed his neck tenderly. "Don't apologize. I've been doing some thinking lately while you were gone."

He pulled back instantly and shook his head quickly. "No, honey, I don't want you to commit to anything that's not within your comfort zone."

Her shoulders slumped a little. "But what if I want this? I love you so much."

"And I love you," he whispered, his lips trailing along her jaw line. "More than the world."

She pulled back and looked him in the eyes. "Then give me this," she murmured. "Make love to me, Jacob. It's what I want. I've decided. I accept the imprint. Hell…I accepted it a long, long time ago."

He swept her into his arms and carried her up the stairs. His wolf could not and would not deny the requests of his imprint, especially when it came to them making love. Jacob laid her down on the bed and gently began to help the sweater over her head.

He'd already seen everything before, but she'd seen nothing of his glorious body. She wanted to see it all. It was easy for her to kick off her pants and lay there in her undergarments in front of him—she was so comfortable around him.

Her tiny fingers tugged at the front of his pants suggestively. He slid his pants down his muscular, tanned legs, his erection springing to its impressive 8 inch length. It was the biggest she'd ever seen in her life. That, and it was the first one she'd ever seen in her life.

"Jake," she squeaked, her eyes widening in shock. "How will you…_fit?"_

His beautiful laughter rang out into the air as he climbed on top of her. She'd taken off her bra, revealing her perky breasts to him. Jacob cuddled her into him and rubbed every inch of her sweet ivory skin with his big, hot hands. She made a helpless little sighing noise and Jake felt her begin to relax.

Jacob ducked his head and planted a soft, wet kiss on her neck. "Bella," he breathed into her skin. He rolled his hips against hers, making her moan softly.

Bella's nails dug into his back, raking down his spine. He moaned loudly, despite his control, making her eyes widen beneath him. For a moment she thought she hurt him, but as soon as that devious, sexy smirk came back onto his lips she knew he liked the way it felt.

She moaned as Jacob hardened his tongue and licked firmly up the base of her neck. One of Jacob's hands pinched a nipple and the other slithered across her stomach and into her panties. He cupped her in his hand, making her cry out breathlessly in his ear.

Bella wanted to experiment. She reached a hand down and gripped his hard, long length, giving it a soft tug. He groaned and licked at her lips in approval. She moved her hand a little more and shifted her body beneath him, making Jacob moan and blindly turn his face back to hers.

She loved pleasuring him, feeling a power over him that she could pleasure him at her expense.

Jacob's fingers found her clit and he began to rub quickly in circular motions. Bella cried out and arched her body against his, her grip on his cock becoming much tighter.

He shook in her grasp. He was going to lose it and he wasn't even inside of her yet.

They kissed. Biting and nipping at each other. Jacob's tongue coaxed Bella's into his mouth and then he sucked at it in the same rhythm as she stroked his cock. Bella groaned into his mouth.

Her pace increased slightly with every jolt of arousal that ran through him. His cock was wetter now with the pre cum that leaked from the tip. "Honey…" he whispered, pushing her hand away. "I won't be able to last long if we continue down this road."

She blushed as he leaned back on his haunches, his cock standing so proudly that it almost touched his muscled torso. She lifted her hips and allowed him to slip off her panties.

Bella did what was natural. She spread her legs for him. And Jacob did what was natural as well, and took a nice, long look. Pink, tight, virginal, perfect. With one finger, he parted the moistened folds and rubbed her clit softly. She looked flushed and lustful.

He leaned down and smacked a kiss to the little bud. She threw her head back and moaned loudly. "J-Jake!"

He gave a few licks before pulling away and tugging her closer by her thighs. Jacob jacked himself slowly, looking into Bella's eyes. She gave him a reassuring nod. "Please."

"Tell me what you want," he instructed. "Right now."

"You," came her answer.

Jacob's big hand stroked down Bella's back and kneaded her ass cheek with one hand, the other lining up his cock with her entrance. "Are you ready for me?"

She was nervous, but it was what she wanted. "Y-yeah."

"Hold my hand, honey…" he whispered softly. She did just that. He wrapped his warm fingers around hers before looking into her eyes. "We're doing this together."

She nodded. Jacob squeezed her hand tightly, folding his lips over hers. And he thrust upwards into her, sheathing himself balls deep. She broke the kiss, a hoarse cry falling from her lips. Something had just torn in her painfully.

Tears stung at her eyes and she blindly tried to wipe them away before he saw, but it was useless. He saw them. "It's okay, baby. I've got you. I'm here," he mumbled, kissing her tears away. "Never gonna let you go…you're safe."

He pulled out and slid himself in again that knocked the air out of her lungs. "Jake," she moaned, clutching at his biceps mindlessly. A slow tugging pull out and then an even slower re-entry.

"Oh baby," Jacob swore. "Look at that. All the way in." He groaned.

Bella grasped the sheets. "I feel so…so full."

He kissed her again, his hands palming her breasts. "So tight," he mumbled. "So good. Such a good girl."

The strokes were slow and dragged fire through her veins. She finally felt the pleasure building as his cock began to rub oh-so-sweetly against her G-spot. "Harder," she moaned. "Please."

He took her at her word. He sat up and grabbed Bella's slender hips, hauling her onto his cock. His hips slapping against Bella's soft and supple ass. Another stroke hit Bella right where she wanted it to—on her sweet spot.

She gasped and panted, trying desperately to get air into her lungs. She tried to get her arms up underneath herself as Jake hauled himself into her again, filling her to the brim and then knocking the breath out of her again.

"Fuck!" he swore, the sensation of having her so tight and hot around his member overwhelming. "Take my cock, Bella…" he demanded. "All of it."

"Jake," she moaned, grasping his neck, the pleasure building up inside of her. "Jake, please."

He was almost panting with the effort now, grunting as he slid his cock in and out of Bella. "Please what?" He gripped her hips tightly as he drove himself into her. "Tell me."

"Oh!" her eyes rolled into her head with the light fluttery feeling in her stomach. "Mark me! Make me accept the imprint!"

His eyes instantly turned yellow, and the reins were handed over to the beast. She had just asked him to mark her. He virtually couldn't refuse it. He wouldn't do it unless she asked, and fuck him, she'd just asked.

He buried his face in her neck and bit her. The pleasure pain was so overwhelming; she came so hard, her walls contracting around him. The tightness encircling his cock was enough to make him blow his load so hard that he saw white.

"Shit!"

"I accept it, I accept it, I accept it," she cried, riding out the aftershocks of her orgasm. He collapsed on top of her.

"It's done," he whispered. "You're really mine, all mine, always and forever."

0o0o0o0o

The imprint was a lot stronger than before, she noticed. As she made dinner that night, he refused to leave her alone. He was at her side, helping her add things to her soup and cutting up meat for her to put into it. He snuck little tastes and received multiple smacks from her on the ass as he ran away like a child that just stole a cookie in front of his own mother.

She didn't really mind the hovering, though. Every time he went upstairs or outside while she cooked, she could feel the sharp tugs on the strings of her heart. Needless to say that he was back by her side in under five minutes.

Jacob collected firewood for the hearth and lit it himself before helping her carry over two bowls of beef barley soup over to the couch. "Don't spill it," she told him with a little smile.

He winked at her before taking a spoonful into his mouth. He moaned. "You're an amazing cook. I don't know how you do it."

"Mmm," she said between bites. "Thank you, baby."

He looked at her, a little taken aback by her choice of words. "Baby?" he chuckled. "That's new." He leaned in closer and kissed the mark he made on her neck earlier. "I like that."

She moaned so loud that he thought she just had an orgasm. He turned her face towards him so quickly that she almost spit out her soup. "What?" she laughed, gulping it down before she started to choke.

"Did that feel good?" he asked her.

"Well yeah," she replied, as if it were a no-brainer.

He did it again. She moaned. Again. "Does it feel like you're having an orgasm, because it sounds like you're having one."

She began to crack up despite herself. It wasn't a funny topic, but the way he said it just sounded a little…funny to her. "Sorry," she apologized. "Well, yeah…it kind of does."

He looked pleased with himself. "So I can give you orgasms by just doing…this?" He touched her mark again and she shuddered, clenching her thighs together tightly.

"Stop it," she hissed, then pouted. "You made me spill soup on my shirt."

He smirked. "Take it off, then."

She set the bowl down on the coffee table counter and went to strip off her tee shirt. "It burns my skin."

"Aw, I'm sorry." He followed her off the couch and inspected it. The area was red and sore. "I didn't mean for you to burn yourself."

She shook her head. "Oh it's fine, as long as you do that thing again…"

He smirked and grabbed her by her neck, bringing her closer. He kissed the mark, laving it with his clever tongue. Her knees buckled and she grasped at his shoulders. He chuckled as he caught her around the waist, preventing her from falling. "I love that I can do that to you without even touching you…down there…"

She leaned against him. "Do you think that the guys saw this?"

"No doubt," he admitted. "But before you get all riled up, I saw Pepper accept her imprint today too. Seth's good at it, too."

She smacked him lightly on the arm. "That's really gross. Pepper's a little girl."

"No…no she wasn't. Not today, not to Seth."

She grimaced. "Okay, that's enough."

She hobbled away to the laundry room to throw her shirt into the washing machine. "Hey," he called. "Hey! Why are you limping like that?"

She rolled her eyes. "Don't be daft, Jake."

"But I'm serious."

"You really want me to say it?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "I want to know what happened to your leg."

She laughed. "It's not my leg. You fucked me earlier, remember?"

His face went red. "Jesus, and I tried to take it slow."

"I love you. Always and forever."

"I love you more, sunshine. Always and forever."

As she limped back to the living room, he commented, "I do not fuck. At least I like to think that I don't."

"Yeah well, that was fucking," she protested. "But it was good. The best I ever had."

He folded his bulky arms and frowned at her. "That was the _only_ you ever had."

She giggled. "I have dreams too, Jake. And a lot of them in which you starred…"

He bit his lip and pushed his hair out of his eyes. "Damn."

0o0o0o0o

**HOLY SH*T. There was some major imprint accepting in that chapter. Leave a review and praise Jake on his MAD skills.**


	17. Chapter 17

**Author's Note: Hi again, you guys. I want to thank all of you guys who reviewed the last chapter. Your reviews are what drives me. We are building to something great, here. I love you all so much!**

**Chapter 17:**

"Bye, hon." Angelina waved to her as she walked out the door. "Have a good night. See you in a few days!"

Mike had been pretty hard on her that night. He'd cut down her pay check ten dollars for not cleaning up fast enough and dropping a small tray of French fries because he'd bumped into her in the kitchen.

She took the yelling fine as always. She couldn't afford to lose her job. Earlier she'd spent the whole day with Jacob fooling around at her house before he had to go to work at The Garage.

Her cell phone buzzed in her pocket.

_Jacob: Hey honey. How r u? Haven't heard anything from u in a while._

She typed back to him tiredly.

_**I am ok. Just a little tired. How was ur day fixing cars?**_

_Jacob: Had a few customers. Slow day…_

_**Oh. That sucks.**_

_Jacob: Sort of. Did Mike do anything to u 2day? Cuz if he did I promise I will kick his ass._

_**I know u will. We'll talk later.**_

_Jacob: OK. I miss u. See u when u get home?_

_**Definitely. Love u always and forever.**_

_Jacob: Love u more, sunshine. Always and forever._

She stuck the phone back into her pocket as a black Venom GT Spyder pulled up in front of her. "Hey!" someone called. She jumped a little and looked up. From inside the car, a handsome man was smiling widely at her and looking at her from under black sunglasses. "I know you, don't I?"

She blushed. "Hi, Riley." Bella wasn't really in the mood to be hit on.

He took off his sunglasses and looked at her with his brilliant gold eyes. "You need a ride? I don't see your truck."

"You don't see my…?" She looked around the parking lot. She'd walked to work that day and forgot about her ride home. She was an idiot. She lowered her head into her hands and rubbed her temples. "Guess I forgot about my ride home."

"Never fear," cooed Riley. "Your white knight is here on his trusty black steed." He patted the side of his shiny black car and revved the engine.

She smiled at him. "That's a really nice car. Is it yours?"

He nodded. "Impressed? You'll be even more impressed to find out how smoothly it runs."

She stuffed her hand inside of her coat pocket. "I don't know."

"C'mon Bella," he moaned. "Do you really want to walk all the way home in the dark? Do you know what could happen if you weren't careful?"

He was right. Bella slung her purse over her shoulder. She wasn't going to call Jacob when Riley was standing right there in front of her with his nice car, waiting to take her home. "Oh, alright." He grinned as she made her way over to the passenger's seat.

She sat down on the nice seats, seeing the glowing lights of the dashboard and his glowing smile. "Address?" he asked. She told him, and they drove off.

She was tired. She leaned against the seat as Riley chattered away in the driver's seat about random things. She was barely listening to him as he drove down the road.

"Bella?" he asked.

She looked over at him. "Yeah?"

He handed her a water bottle. "Here. If you were thirsty."

She looked at it. It was filled with red liquid. On the label it said: Flavored Water-Fruit Punch. "Thank you," she whispered. As she gulped it down, she realized she was pretty thirsty.

"No problem," Riley replied. "That's my favorite kind of flavored water they make. That, and the pomegranate-lemon one."

She grimaced. "Pomegranate-lemon? That actually sounds gross."

"Names can be deceiving," he replied, tilting his head to the side as the Spyder zoomed down the dark road ahead of her. "Because it's actually really good. A lot of things can be deceiving."

She nodded her head; dark curls falling into her eyes. "Yes sir, they can." She felt her eyelids getting heavy. She was more tired than she thought.

As the music on the radio played, Riley rocked his head back and forth, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel. He glanced over at her. "Tired, sweetheart?"

She gave him an odd look when he called her the nickname, but fell back into her seat and nodded her head. "I guess so."

He smiled softly. "Just hang on. We're almost home, I promise."

"O-okay."

Blackness hit her before she could even register it through her system.

0o0o0o0o

Sunshine poured through the open window. She could hear bluebirds singing outside, and the cool summer breeze floating through the open window. She threw herself over in bed, snuggling against the soft golden pillows, pulling her white comforter over her head.

Suddenly her eyes snapped open. She didn't have gold pillows or a white comforter. Her pillows were purple and her comforter was green. She threw off the covers and sat up in the king sized bed. The room was ridiculously large and bright and royal-looking. She looked down at herself. She was dressed in a nightgown that reached the middles of her thighs, and wore nothing underneath.

She gasped. Where were her clothes? Where was she? Where was Riley? What about Jacob? A thousand thoughts raced through her mind all at one time. Her legs were so tangled in blankets that she tumbled out of the bed and had to crawl across the floor to the door. She saw herself in the mirror first.

Her hair was curled and her lips were pink and she actually had…makeup on. What the hell? She swung the door open and was amazed to see that the hallways were endlessly long and this place she was at was _huge_.

"Oh my _God_." Bella's heart pounded in her chest ridiculously fast as she stumbled down the hallways, desperately searching for someone. Anyone. She ran down the quiet hallways.

Finally, she heard the faint sound of laughter. She followed it, slowly walking on the balls of her bare feet. The door was opened and she could see an unfamiliar man sitting in a large red velvet chair. He was wearing odd attire. She could see a beautiful blonde woman wearing a blue dress that looked like it was from the Stone Age. She took a step closer.

As she did so, she could see his nostrils expand and his head whip towards her.

His smile faded. His eyes were wild and his lips pulled over his teeth. The man was huge and beautiful, just like Riley. She took a step back. "Emmett, what the hell are you doing?" a voice echoed from inside the room.

"Human." The man grunted.

Suddenly, Emmett was being flung across the room and choked by a huge guy—he seemed giant compared to the others. He struggled slightly, but didn't fight him. The bigger guy seemed to hold superiority over the smaller one.

She watched Emmett's eyes go from bright red back to soft brown in seconds. "Sorry Felix," he apologized.

Felix released his hold on Emmett's neck and gave him a nasty look. "Master would have ripped your throat out if you would have harmed her, do you realize that?" Emmett rubbed over the fingerprints on his neck that Felix had put there.

Bella looked mortified and she pressed herself up against the marble walls nervously. Felix smiled and held out his hand. "Good morning, beautiful. Care to join us?"

She stood up shakily and clenched her fists at her sides. "Where am I?" she hissed at him. "Tell me right now."

"The Manor," he smoothly replied. "Do you like it? We all figured you would." He approached her slowly, making the people from inside the other room crowd the doorway to watch. "And was the room to your liking? He had Victoria prepare it especially for you."

She looked down at herself. "Where are my clothes? And my purse, my phone?"

"Your clothes are in your room, in the closet. Your purse is also in there. Your phone, I'm afraid, is in the trash can. You dropped it last night and it broke." Felix murmured softly.

Suddenly she felt bursts of anger surge through her. "I need to go home right now! Where's Riley? I'll kill him!" she yelled at him, running at him with her fists held high. He expertly caught them and fended her off gently. "Why did he take me here?"

He looked agitated and called for someone quickly. "Jane! Get her back to her room and dress her properly. We can't have her roaming around the halls half naked, can we? Master would not be pleased."

Like she was a doll, Felix handed her over to a small blonde woman with surprising force. Jane dragged her down the hallway and back to her room. "Spitfire, isn't she?" Didyme whispered.

Felix nodded. "Quite. It's what makes her perfect for Master."

The redheaded woman came up beside him. "Should I tell Athenodora to start preparing breakfast for the human and our Master?"

He nodded. "Yes. Do so before he gets too angry. You know how those outbursts are. He knows that she is awake."

0o0o0o0o

"Please…tell me where I am." Bella begged the younger girl. "What does he want with me here?"

Jane held up an intricate red dress. "Would this suit you?" she asked blandly.

Bella rolled her eyes. "I need a telephone. I need to call my boyfriend."

"No landlines here," she replied and began to tear off Bella's nightgown.

She batted Jane away in a petty manner. "And what do you think you're doing?" she hissed.

Jane's red eyes widened with hatred. "Dressing you," she spat back at Bella. "I could ask for Felix to do so if you wished."

She slumped her shoulders and gave into her. Jane stripped her naked in a matter of moments. "Why do I have to wear this dress?" she asked. "It looks like it's 500 years old."

"Because it is." Jane whispered, slipping the dress over Bella's head. It seemed to fit her perfectly. "And Master requested you wear it the first day. On the second day he said that you would be allowed to choose your own garments."

Bella whipped around. "I'm not staying here," she told Jane. "I can't stay here. I'm leaving _today._"

Jane laughed humorlessly. "Of course…if Master allows it. And I doubt he will."

"Who is _Master_?" Bella hissed at the younger girl. "Tell me right now."

Jane began to tie up the back of Bella's dress. "Master is the one that we serve. He is our Master."

"His name," Bella replied in exasperation. "Tell me his name!"

"We do not speak of Master's name. He is just simply _Master._ You mustn't upset him by calling him by his real name." Jane whispered. "Remember that, Isabella."

"How do you know my name?"

"Everyone knows your name. Master's been talking about you for 500 years." Jane said.

Of course, Bella assumed she was joking.

0o0o0o0o

"Master? She is here."

He lifted his head to behold the most beautiful sight that he'd ever seen. His heart ached. She wore the same dress years ago. Looked the same years ago. But she did not remember him.

Her eyes were widened at the sight of him. He looked down at himself to make sure that he did not look ridiculous. "You," she whispered. Her beautiful face twisted with anger. "What am I doing here? Why did you bring me here?"

"Sit," he replied, nodding his head towards the end of the table. Jane forced her to the end of the table. Didyme threw him suggestive look but he dismissed it coldly.

She stared at the food on her plate. "I want to know why."

"It's because I love you."

Bella looked at him like he'd just said the most ridiculous thing in the world. "You love me? We've only known each other for 3 weeks! Only seen each other on short intervals. How the hell is that love?"

He poked at the food with his fork. "You wouldn't understand even if I told you."

She looked up at him from under her thick lashes. "Tell me what, _Riley?_"

He flinched as if he'd been stung several times. Didyme, Victoria, Jane and Athenodora all gasped in horror. No one called him by his real name in his own house.

She folded her arms and glared at him. "What? That's your name. You're out of your mind if you think I'm going to call you Master."

"Okay. But not in front of the staff, please."

"Then I refuse to call you anything."

"Master, restrain her!" hissed Didyme. "How dare she speak to you like that?"

He threw her a cold glance before turning back to Bella. "Eat. You'll starve."

She looked down at her plate—sausage, eggs and toast. "You didn't put drugs in this, did you? Because that's exactly what you did with my flavored water last night, right? I know you did."

Now he was beginning to get agitated. "You would not come when I offered. You refused me every time! You made me chase after you like a lion with its lamb."

"I have a boyfriend!" she told him harshly. "And he'll come for me. He'll kill you if he finds you."

He slammed his fists down on the table and stood tall, eyes wild with fury. "No_, I_ will kill him if he tries to get close to you. _The dog is no match for me_!"

She blinked and looked back down at her plate. She shook slightly. He knew that Jacob was a werewolf? "You're a vampire…" she whispered, slowly lifting her eyes to meet his dark ones. They were no longer gold.

He sat back down in his seat and picked up his glass filled with thick red liquid. "Yes. Are you afraid?"

"No," she lied. "What do you want from me?"

He set down his glass and leaned forward. "Your affection. Your presence. It soothes me, Bella." He rolled his head on his neck, cracking a bone loudly. "You have no idea how long I've waited for you."

She poked at her eggs and lifted a piece of the white food into her mouth.

"And I beg of you," he told her. "Do _not_ make me angry at you. I don't want to hurt you."

Bella was very tense. She was in a room full of vampires and one crazy one that was trying to win her love, threatening to kill her imprint if he came here. If Jacob brought the pack to save her, would they be outnumbered? Would someone get hurt?

When she looked up, Riley was staring straight at her. He was painstakingly beautiful and evil all at the same time. "Is something bothering you?" he asked. She shook her head. "Good. I would hate to have you thinking about other things at this time."

She gave him a dirty look. "I can't believe that I thought you were sweet even for a second. Screw you."

He looked slightly hurt, but did not reply. "You look beautiful in that dress. I picked it out for you. You wore it on our first date together. Do you remember?"

She went red in the face. "You're absolutely crazy. I have no idea what you're talking about."

He lowered his head. "No, you wouldn't, would you?"

She stabbed at her food blindly. "I'm leaving today."

"You're not," he retorted softly.

"I _am_."

"You're not leaving me!" He took his glass and threw it at the wall. The woman named Didyme dodged the glass as it shattered on the cream-colored walls, red liquid sliding down in ugly red streaks. "Ever!"

She sat frozen at the end of the table, shaking with the force of his words. He was downright serious about this. His fingers were covered in blood from his drink. He stared at the wall. Didyme crouched down low in the corner, shaking and chanting softly.

"Please," Bella whimpered softly. Riley turned towards her, his face broken and his eyes wanting. He stumbled over to her, his long cloak dragging on the floor. Shaking, cold fingers touched her face, smearing blood all over her cheeks.

"Can't lose you," he murmured. "I went insane for about 500 years. Can't do it any longer."

His grip on her chin tightened significantly. It made her cry out. "Riley!" she squeaked in pain. He released his hold on her almost immediately.

"Eat, my sweet Bella." She was so scared that she couldn't move. He gritted his teeth slightly. He took the plate and handed it off to Athenodora. "Not hungry, are you?"

She slowly shook her head, lip quivering.

"Get up," he whispered. "I'll give you a tour of my mansion."

Jane had to help her up and out of her seat—she was so shaken and weak. "Keep your strength," she whispered to Bella. "You will need it."

That didn't help to sooth Bella's fears at all.

0o0o0o0o

"She was supposed to meet us here," Jacob explained. "I don't know where she's at. She won't answer her phone."

"Don't worry about it," Embry whispered. "Mike probably made her turn her cell phone off at work."

Jacob was fidgeting in his seat. "If she's not here in another half hour, I'm going looking for her."

Embry shoved popcorn into his mouth and watched Jigsaw trap another one of his victims. "Sure, sure. I'll go with you."

"You don't understand how this feels—"

"Wow, look at that man! It just ripped her jaw off. Ouch."

**0o0o0o0o**

**Uh-oh. Review and tell me what you thought about this chapter, and this major plot twist. Do you have faith in our wolf or in the vamp? I need your opinions so much—they do really count. (:**


	18. Chapter 18

**Author's Note: Thank you for all the lovely reviews. Hearing your voices is amazing! I'm sure you're all really excited to read this next chapter after the last one. I mean, holy crow, what a twister! Creds to my crazy muse…and Romeo and Juliet :)**

**Italian dictionary at the end of the chapter.**

**Attention: Some of you came to me a few nights ago with concerns about Riley raping her. I'm not about rape at all, so there will be no sexual abuse whatsoever in this story.**

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns everything except my plot.**

**Chapter 18:**

He'd placed her in the room while he went to fetch them some drinks. There was no doubt in Bella's mind that what he fetched would be blood.

She touched the painting on the wall, fascinated by the way it felt beneath her fingers. It was a portrait of _him_. She didn't know whether to be disgusted or amazed at his beauty.

He wore a fancy navy blue tunic with gold ties. His brown hair hung by his shoulders. His skin was pale white, full lips set in a straight line and chocolate eyes staring into the distance.

"I had paid Michelangelo to paint it." His voice rang out of the silence, cutting the tension with a knife. In less than a second he was by her side, his cold breath on her skin as he leaned in close to speak with her. "Do you like it, _dolce ragazza_?"

Bella moved away from him. His presence did everything but soothe her. It was unsettling to have him so near to her. "When were you born?"

He snorts, giving her one of the two goblets in his hand. "A long, long time ago."

She folded her arms over her chest. "I want to know," she whispered, taking the goblet and looking inside. It was red wine.

"It was the year 1454. I was born to Caterina Salvaza and Paolo dei Bellini." He looked at himself in the painting, and shifted in his place as if the memories were painful to him. "I was born in Florence, Italy, during the Renaissance times. They had named me Rimini Salvazo Bellini…but since it is the 21st century, I efficiently changed my name to Riley Samuel Biers."

Hearing his story made her see him in a different light. She sipped her wine. "So you're like…500 years old?" she asked him out of complete curiosity.

"564 years old to be exact. Yesterday was my birthday. I was turned when I was 19 years old by the Volturi coven…particularly _Caius._"

She softened when hearing this and she almost apologized for treating him so badly, but she quickly remembered what he was, and what he did. Bella was a foolish brat. She hadn't listened to Jacob when he threw out the warning signs and now she was paying for her stupidity. She turned to him with fire in his eyes. "Let me go home. Please."

He turned to her, his bright red eyes lethal. "Do not ask again. You are like a package I've been waiting for to come in the mail for over 500 years. Now that I've received the precious contents, I would hate to break them."

She backed up into the corner and glared at him before softening. "Let me call him, then. Let him ease his worries a little."

He tugged on his cloak slightly, while shaking his head in awe. "You think I don't know of the games you humans play? _Oh let me call him Riley, and I promise I won't tell him I'm in trouble._ Yeah right. Bullshit."

Bella stared at him before gently lowering herself into the fancy wooden chair in the grand room. White fingers gripped cherry red wood like death. "And what are you planning to do with me here?"

He took the seat in front of her, setting his goblet full of blood on the tiny end table beside them both and stared lovingly into her eyes. "Rekindle those thoughts and memories that you've so expertly hidden away in the depths of your mind. And perhaps…perhaps we could have what we had once more."

She groaned and leaned forward in her seat. "I don't understand what you want with me exactly. I don't remember you. I'm _not in love_ with you."

That blow seemed to hit him hard in the chest. "It's because of that _dog_ isn't it?"

She nodded slowly, cautiously. "I love him. He committed his life to me."

Riley cradled his head in his hands. "How much of a commitment would it be if he died? No life to commit anymore." Her eyes widened and she stood from her seat, fists clenched at her sides. She was about to spew something nasty at him, but he held up a hand. "Sit down." And like invisible hands were forcing her down, she did so.

She was virtually glued to the chair. "He'll find me."

He chuckled humorlessly. "Yes, I do suppose he'll go searching for death. The foolish ones always do." He tapped his blunt fingernails on the armrest of his chair and looked up at her. "I knew I should have come sooner. It seems as if I've missed my window."

Bella squirmed in her chair under his intense gaze. "You're way past missing your window."

He leaned forward. "I suppose I should feel sad, hmm?" Riley laughed again. "But I don't. I don't feel sad at all. You may have married him then, but it's not happening again. I lost you once and I won't go through it again. _Felix!_"

The huge man that Bella had seen earlier burst through the door, standing at full attention. "Master."

Riley waved his hand over at Bella. "Take her to the Iron Vines."

Her eyes widened in horror. "What? R-Riley, no!"

Felix yanked her out of the seat and dragged her down the hallway, kicking and screaming. Riley felt his heart ache for her. He hated to treat her that way, but it was the only way he could make her see.

"Jane, fetch our coven. We must discuss ways to trap the wolves. They will be coming soon."

0o0o0o0o

"Felix, please." Bella begged him softly, tugging at his stone cold arms. The vampire looked up at her with blood red eyes, white lip quivering. He saw the tears that rolled down her cheeks. "Don't make me stay down here."

His hand rested on the front of her dress, cold fingers resting on the black button that held the front of her dress together. "You beg so prettily. I would suck you dry right now if I could, but Master would simply snap my neck." In one swift movement, he tore the dress to shreds.

She screamed, being left in nothing but her underclothes. Felix chained her hand to the curling bars that looked like vines. She cowered back against them, Felix's stony thumbs pressing into her wrists with firing pressure. She wailed in agony.

He covered her lips with his finger. "Shh. Save your voice, _dolce ragazza._ You will need it later—there will plenty of time for screaming…later. For now, Master wishes for you to rest."

His hand came towards her quickly, pressing a spot on her neck that made her fall to unconsciousness before she could open her mouth to scream.

0o0o0o0o

"Sam! He's having another freakout!"

Jacob's eyes were blinded as he struggled against Jared and Paul's grasp. They'd been at Emily's for four hours, listening to Jacob have fits off and on. He'd nearly killed Billy with the way that he threw things off of shelves and smashed anything in his path. He clawed at the air, trying to strangle something that just wasn't there. Bella had been gone for days, and he was going crazy with visions.

"They're _hurting_ her!" he wailed. "Have to…get to her!"

Sam groaned. Seeing his beta in such a state made his own heart ache. Bella was his imprint, and Sam figured that he would go crazy if vampires captured Emily as well. But Jacob had been in some kind of "coma" for days, only saying mindless things and having odd visions.

"Jacob!" Sam hollered over the buzz. "Calm down!" Sam's alpha command had everyone silencing. The younger man's screams reduced to cries as he slumped in Jared and Paul's arms, curling to a little ball.

Everyone crowded around him curiously, waiting to see what he'd say, and what he'd do. Jacob brought his knees to his chest and shook. They all gasped as a purplish bruise showed up on his bicep.

Embry frantically looked at Sam. "Bella's hurt." At the sound of Embry's voice, Jacob moaned in agony. Another bruise appeared a little lower on his arm.

Sam cupped a hand over his mouth. "You need to tell me what you see, Jacob. We'll help her."

"Vampires," Jacob whispered. "Trapped her. Huge white house in the middle of a secluded forest. _Hurting_ her. Dungeon."

They all huddled together. "I might know where Bella's at," Quil whispered. "I go past that weird old Manor every time I take the back routes when I go pick up Claire from preschool."

Another cry from Jacob caused them all to look back at the heap of powerful man on the floor. "There's 12 vampires in the damn coven," he said with hatred. "I'll kill every single fucking bloodsucker that stands in my way."

Jacob began to shake. "Get back!" Sam yelled, grabbing Emily and shoving her behind him. The man morphed into a giant red brown wolf before everyone's eyes, roaring wildly.

"We'll save her." Embry told the creature standing in Emily and Sam's living room. "Don't worry. We protect imprints at all costs."

The wolf's head great head jerked to the side, blood dribbling down its muzzle. It whimpered before growling viciously and bounding out of the house.

0o0o0o0o

The footsteps carried him down the stairs to the Iron Vines. He squinted into the darkness, trying to see into the dark cell. "Bella?" he called. He heard a little shuffling. He grabbed the torch off of the wall and held it up the cells. Her wrists were bloody from the cuffs and she'd scratched her face on the sharp end of the Iron Vine.

"Jesus, _il mio amore._ What have you done to yourself?" He unlocked the cell and began to unlock her handcuffs. "I only meant for you to sit down here, not torture yourself."

He looked her in the eyes, running a cold hand down the side of her face, wiping away the blood. The wound on her face was instantly healed. Her eyes were full of hatred. She didn't even thank him for healing her. Felix had done more damage to her frail body than she'd done to her own.

Before she could protest, his cold lips were on hers. She gasped, but could not move away; she was against the wall and his hard body was keeping her there. He pulled away and smiled softly. "I have always loved kissing you. Tell me Bella…do you feel anything?"

"Yes," she whispered. When his face lit up, she spit on him. He flinched before wiping it off of his face. He stood, fire in his blood red eyes. "I feel _hatred."_

He slapped her hard across the face. "You will respect me!" His cold hands wrapped around her neck and lifted her off of the ground. She struggled and choked in his hands, feet flailing wildly and fingers tugging at his.

Her eyes bulged wide. She couldn't breathe. He laughed at her. "I have always loved you. See how you make me crazy?" He dropped her, and she collapsed to the floor while gasping for her breath. "This was your doing, not mine."

She began to cry. "If you love me, then let me go."

Riley's eyes sparkled with mirth. "That's not how it worked back in the Renaissance times. I was born in 1400's Italy, not the 21st century. Just because it is the 21st century doesn't mean I don't think like a person from the old times. And sorry to say this, but that bullshit didn't work on me back then." He grabbed the torch he set down in the corner of her cell and held it up, the light casting onto his face. "It still doesn't."

He shut the cell and locked with the key around his neck. "Dinner will be served in 30 minutes. I'll have Jane bring you something. Unless you wish to come up."

She nodded her head. "I do."

He held up a finger. "On one condition: you will bed me tonight. I have a 500 hundred year reputation of being the best lover around." Her shoulders slumped as she slunk back into the shadows of her cell. His eyes were fiery from the blunt refusal.

"Fine," he hissed. "Stay down here and rot in this filthy mess! I'll let you out when you learn to love me!"

He stormed up the stairs, the sound of clinking metal ringing in her ears. Bringing her knees to her chest, Bella Swan had a feeling that she'd be stuck in the Iron Vines for a good amount longer.

0o0o0o0o

Jane was the one that brought the food down to her. There was an abundance of delicious looking food piled atop a golden plate equipped with an equally golden fork. She slid it under the bottom of the cage.

Bella scoured forwards and picked up the fork. "Is he still angry?" she asked the female vampire.

The blonde shrugged emotionlessly. "More upset than angry. You test him." Jane pointed to the plate. "Now eat. Master requests my presence upstairs in an hour. I must feed you, bathe you and clothe you before you are to be presentable to him."

Bella dropped her fork. "What does he want from me, Jane? Because whatever it is, I won't give it to him."

Jane snorted and gripped the key in her hand tighter. "You'll give Master whatever he wants, when he asks for it. He's put you here once, and he could put you here again."

Bella gasped and touched the bruise on her arms. She began to quickly eat her dinner. It was quite good, but her stomach churned so badly that she wasn't sure if she could keep it down or not.

The blonde vampire pointed to the bruises on Bella's skin. "Felix did those to you," she whispered before laughing softly. "I recognize his handprints. If Master puts you here again, you'll be left for Demetri. Demetri have smaller hands, but his wrath is not smaller."

Jane sat watching her while the frail girl inside the cage finished her meal. Bella wiped her mouth with the back of her hand before pushing the plate back under the cell.

The silver key went into the lock and released Bella from her miniature hell. "Come with me."

0o0o0o0o

The room was dark, lit only by candles sitting on small wooden tables. Intricate old paintings were hung around the room. Jane sat in a golden chair beside the wooden bathtub and pretended to look interested in the paintings hung around the room.

The bath water was much too hot for comfort, but Bella dared not to say a word to Jane about it. The vampire watched her every move as she lifted the sponge out of the soapy bath water and rubbed it over herself.

She was going to protest Jane's presence, but it made no sense to start a fight with the only decent vampire in the whole entire manor.

So the question finally arose. "Why are you so kind to me?" Bella questioned.

Jane's red eyes flickered over Bella's nude form sitting buried beneath soapy bath water. "Riley plans to make you his mate, and thus the head female vampire of the coven. I don't want to get on your bad side before you're even turned."

Her heart suddenly plummeted deep into her stomach. "Oh my god. He's not going to turn me tonight, is he?"

Jane shook her head, tapping her short fingernails on the countertop next to her. "No. Not tonight. But soon." Red eyes found chocolate ones. "And you shall not resist. It will do you no good for Riley to break you before your prime. It would take longer to heal that way."

The warm water and flickering light of lemon-pound cake scented candles no longer soothed her name. "I don't want to be changed. I'm afraid, Jane. Tell me when he plans to change me!"

The vampire smiled devilishly, red eyes glinting in the candlelight. "It would come as a surprise. And you'd be happier that way."

Bella sunk deeper into the water. "Jacob is coming for me," she whispered softly to herself quietly so that Jane wouldn't hear. But she did.

"Is that the mutt's name?" she snickered. "He will be dead before Riley even tries to kill him. He is a strong vampire. 500 years of training has done him good."

Shivers ran along her arms and the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. The thought of Jacob's dying eyes terrified her to the point that she couldn't feel her breath filling her lungs.

"Riley can't kill him," Bella murmured, eyes glossy and wet with tears. "I love him."

"Master loves you," Jane said to her like it was something she didn't already know. "More than he's ever loved any of us. It was the year 1510 when Riley turned me. I was eighteen and didn't know what I was doing with my life. I was a maidservant and I would return to his quarters every night as he stood as a noble in England, a personal friend of Queen Bloody Mary.

"I loved him for years, but eventually he got tired of me. He told me the story of you and how you were stolen from him and left him heart broken. At the time, he'd collected his best friend Felix and his brother Demetri. Emmett, Didyme, and Athenodora were also there as well. They all knew the story."

Bella sighed and rubbed her temples. "This story…it's like a story of past life, am I right?"

Jane nodded. "I'll tell it to you. Master was 18 when he met your 16-year-old self. You were cream of the crop, daughter of a wealthy lord. But you weren't stuck up like the other ladies—you were honest about yourself, and that's what attracted Riley to you. He began to visit you and call for you at your balcony window every night. You liked him, and he liked you back. He wasn't rich at that time—he was a middle class son of a farmer—but it didn't seem to bother the old you. You asked your father Charles if you could marry him—Rimini—but your father turned you down. Said that he'd already sold your hand to a Spanish noble."

Bella blinked. The story was interesting. "Tell me more."

Jane licked her lips. "You told Riley and you two planned to run away. You were so in love that you would have done anything for him. One night, you snuck out of your house and made love to him in the top floor of his father's barn. Riley had walked you home that night. He made sure you were in safe before leaving. On the way home, Caius and his other vampires attacked him and turned him into a vampire. So he stayed away from you. He wanted to protect you from the monster he'd become.

"You thought he'd abandoned you after you so willingly bedded him, and you were devastated. Your father invited the Spanish guy over and you eventually fell for him while Riley watched jealously from the shadows. He couldn't go to you with such a thirst like that. He watched in anguish as you fell in love with him, made love with him, and married him. You bore the other man's children when Riley's dream was to have your hips swelling with _his _child."

Bella sat up a little in the tub. "Tell me what the Spanish man's name was—my husband's."

The blonde picked at her fingernails. "It was something odd—it started with J, though."

Jacob's name came to her mind. Bella gasped. "Jacob?"

"No, no, no… Jacinto! That's what it was. Or was it Jacopo? I cannot think tonight."

Just thinking of him made her heart ache. The bath water was much too warm, like him. The brown wooden table made her think of his eyes. The firelight against the walls made her think of them just sitting by her fireplace and cuddling on the couch. "Hand me my towel please," she told the vampire.

Jane handed the luxurious red wine towel to her. Bella wrapped it around herself as she stood and stepped out of the tub. "Master should come to you before you sleep to wish you goodnight."

Bella followed Jane down the hallways wearing nothing but her towel. Jane lit a few candles as they entered the room. The fireplace was lit, illuminating the darkened room brilliantly. "Sulpicia must have lit this fire…" Jane murmured.

She went to the wardrobe and pulled out a white nightgown for Bella to wear to bed. "Don't you have electric?" Bella asked.

"We do," Jane murmured. "But we've never gotten used to it, really."

The vampire turned her back to allow Bella to dress. She dropped the red towel and slipped on her flimsy nightgown. Near the bed there was a portrait of 14 vampires. She went to it and touched each vampire's face.

"Ah," the blonde said beside her. "Our portrait from 1781. The nine vampires in the back rows are the main guards. Their names are Felix, Demetri, Emmett, Jasper, my brother Alec, me, Victoria, Chelsea, Santiago, Afton and Laurent. And the three females in the front are Riley's pets: Athenodora, Didyme, and Sulpicia. But unfortunately, we lost Chelsea and Laurent to your lover's kind. They crossed an unknown border while hunting and were attacked."

Bella stilled. "When?"

"Five years ago."

Five years ago, Sam's pack still existed. That would have meant that Jacob could have possibly killed Chelsea and Laurent. "Oh." Bella crawled into her bed and pulled the golden covers up to her chin.

Jane pointed to the empty spot beside Riley's still, painted body. "One day you will be painted there. And our Master will be happy and sane once more."

_No I won't,_ was what she wanted to say, but she knew that it wouldn't be received well with Jane. "Goodnight, Jane…"she whispered.

"Master comes," Jane told her. "Do not resist."

Just as she said, the door to her bedroom jiggled and in stepped the tall and proud head vampire. "Bella," he greeted with the little tug of his lips. "I have come to say goodnight."

Jane made her way out of the room and shut the door behind him. Slowly, like a predator stalking its prey, he walked over to her bedside. She laid completely still beneath the covers, big eyes watching his every move.

He sat near her on the bed. His cold fingers wiped a tendril of freshly washed hair out of her face. "You were always so beautiful," he murmured. "I hate hurting you. Seeing your face twisted in pain and filled with hatred towards me when I punished you in the Iron Vines."

She looked away, refusing to say a thing to him.

He dropped his hand and rested it over her heart. "Your heart beats fast. It pumps blood through your young, sweet system. I long for a beating heart. If it were up to me, I'd be by your side as a human…loving you, humanly."

His hand dusts over the bruises on her arms, healing them. She gasped and looked at her healthy, ivory arms. He had rid her of the unbearably painful bruises on her arms. Riley chuckled. "I have always made you feel better. It's a talent of mine."

She glared up at him. He smiled tenderly back at her. "Your touch is cold," she told him. "Too cold." He looked hurt as he pulled his hand away from her arms. Sure enough, she had goosebumps from his touch.

His lips turned upside down in a frown. "I'm sorry, _dolce ragazza, mia bella moglie._ You must know that I never, ever meant to hurt you. But what I do is for your own good. I want you to see that you're making a mistake with that dog and that I won't let you go a second time. I've waited this long…and now you're here." Riley fell atop her like a hard marble stone and buried his nose in her hair. "And I'm never letting you go."

She groaned beneath his cold weight. "You're crushing me," she whimpered, tears sparkling at her eyes. Him draped over her like a blanket didn't feel right. She felt like she was betraying Jacob with the single action, and she hated it. The imprint pull was never stronger.

Riley got off of her and pulled the covers up to her chin. "Sleep, beautiful. _But wait, what's that light in the window over there? It is the east, and Isabella is the sun. Rise up, beautiful sun, and kill the jealous moon. The moon is already sick and pale with grief because you, Isabella, her maid, are more beautiful than she_." He blew out the candles on her bedside table and walked towards the door. "I love you."

She had to bite back her tears so much that it hurt. A quote from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet was the last thing she wanted to hear. Bella turned on her side and threw the covers over her head. She heard him sigh before shutting the door gently.

0o0o0o0o

**Italian Dictionary:**

_**Dolce ragazza:**_ sweet girl

_**Mia bella moglie**_: my beautiful wife

**Thanks for tuning in. I'll try to have more up ASAP. This is getting good, and it's even exciting me. Please leave a little **_**review**_** as encouragement!**


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